We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sheryl McAfee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sheryl below.

Sheryl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Paula’s Hope opened our doors June 1st of 2020, in the midst of Covid when many others were closing their doors. We saw the importance of taking care of your mental and spiritual health and providing a safe and non judgemental place for people to share their hurts and concerns… for FREE.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

There were eight of us that had volunteered together in a previous ministry that provided peer counseling to women only. We volunteered with a lady named Paula. She was an encouragement to many, and she wanted everyone to know the love of Jesus. It was her hope that everyone would. And she did. But there came a time in her life when dealing with some inner struggles, that she made a split-second decision that ended her life on earth.
When Covid hit, that ministry shut it’s doors. I knew we couldn’t let it end that way, so we began a ministry, and with the blessing of Paula’s family, we began Paula’s Hope. We are a nonprofit corporation with 501c3 tax exemption. We are funded by donation.
It is our mission to educate and encourage people to know their identity in Christ and to experience the freedom that He died to give them. And we can help them through their struggles so that they might not get to that place where they make that split-second decision.
We provide free Christian counseling to the public. Men counsel men, women counsel women, and couples counsel couples. Though we are mostly peer counselors, we do have licensed counselors that volunteer their time.
We also provide studies and courses: Keys to Freedom study, Boundaries study, Grief Share, Trauma Reboot Course, and more to come.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Although our Discipleship Counselors (DC’s) have previous and continuous training, this is a ministry of the heart. Our 43 volunteers care deeply about the person that walks through our door. Whether it is for a counsel session, a study, or course, the recipient knows they will encounter a safe, confidential, and nonjudgement environment. One that they will receive truth with love.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

Paula’s Hope is 100% funded by donations. It is a testimony in itself that we opened our doors on June 1, 2020, during a pandemic when others were closing theirs and we are here over five years later and growing.
We are averaging just over one new intake for counseling per day. Last year we impacted 357 lives in peer counseling and will surpass that number this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paulashope.org
• Instagram: paulashopenwa
• Facebook: Paula’s Hope