Medicine Woman Brenda Bates opened Giving Hope to the public with a heavy heart. Giving HOPE finally has a place to call home again. After much drama occurring in 2005, the space where her in-laws lived was the only place that was available, affordable and logical. Medicine woman once again is back to having a home-based business but with a lot more room. She is able to offer more to her clients, customers and students.
Bates never thought of taking her God-given talents and gifts and use them to create a business. That is, until she read The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-18 and Matthew 5:15) in the Bible; and upon further reflection of her life's purpose was revealed. Two weeks after she got her Doing Business As (DBA) license in July of 2003: people were seeking her out without even advertising! She had no idea that people wanted and needed what she had to offer. The business started as a home based business in her den; and it wasn’t long before the den became too small.
Across the road from her home was an old building that once was used as the Ovid Farmers’ Market. Upon purchasing it she began to use it as a storehouse and a classroom for her meetings about empowerment and enlightenment. Once this new facility opened, she couldn’t proceed as fast as she wanted because of all the paperwork to make it an official commercial business. Then tragedy struck: one month after she bought the building in July of 2005 her father-in-law had a major stroke. The business would have to wait because tragedy struck again: on February 15, 2007 the building caught on fire around 2:15 am in the morning. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Business continued to be further delayed due to more tragedy: in 2007, her father-in-law died on February 28th and her mother-in-law died on March 13th. The tragedies being so close together caused a numbing affect. She felt like not only her business was on hold but now her life as well. A place to start the business over and the resources to do so were nonexistent. The den where it all began was not an option and the cost to rent a room someplace was beyond her means. She knew that her services where still needed and that people would continue to seek her out.
In order to open her business again, the space where her in-laws lived was the only place that was available, affordable and logical. So with a heavy heart, she turned that part of the house in to the store and wellness center. By honoring her in-laws using art to express the beauty of life, she turned their home into a place of healing and wellness. Medicine Woman once again is back to having a home-based business—but with a lot more room! She is able to offer more to her clients, customers and students. With a heavy heart, she began to restart Giving HOPE again.