about us
why nonprofit?
It’s really quite simple. As a nonprofit, we are able to help more people step into more healing. Through partnerships, grant-funding and tax-deductible donations, we are able to offer healing transformation to program participants at a fraction of the actual cost and if necessary, at no cost at all.
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As a nonprofit, we are also able to invite you to participate with us, through your own healing transformation and by giving the gift of healing transformation to others. Give here.
our vision & values
we are committed to educating and empowering the overall wellbeing of the servant leaders and educators who lead our communities.
We see those who serve in our communities being well and whole in mind, body, emotions, and spirit, practicing a lasting healthy lifestyle.
We believe each of us is here, on this planet, to serve each other and our communities and that we cannot serve well without first being well.
We see strong leaders creating strong communities and leading the way for those they serve to likewise live conscious and lasting healthy lifestyles.
We engage in listening conversations with the target populations we seek to serve in an effort to meet their wellness needs without being tone-deaf to the challenges they face in their individual and collective lives.
We see a culture that is no longer well-adjusted to a sick society but rather dedicated to a conscious, vibrant, energetic society serving the needs of our communities.
We promote and embody a mindful, conscious lifestyle that seeks natural remedies to health concerns and fosters skillful choices to address health needs.
our founder
Deborah Garrard
Deborah Garrard grew up with a passion to serve others. Her parents instilled in her the value of stewardship. “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48)
Sadly, her parents, both servant leaders, died in their mid-60s, leaving behind meaningful work they loved and precious people they served. Deborah founded
be(e) well serve well because of them.
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And, she founded it because of you. When your work is focused on caring for others, self-care seems selfish. It’s not. Self-care is a sacred act of stewardship.
Whatever the call on your life, we want you to be well and serve well far longer than her parents. Our mission is to help you and others do just that.
With a background in music, theology, and design, Deborah is trained in several holistic approaches to health including Mind-Body-Spirit Eating through the Institute for the Psychology of Eating. She received training and studied Whole Food Plant-based Nutrition with the Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University. She is licensed as a Radical Remission Cancer Coach and Workshop Facilitator. Weaving these elements of her experience and education together, Deborah offers practical guidance and lessons that nourish the whole person, creating lasting lifestyles of health, joy, and generosity.
In Deborah’s own words . . .
There are voices touting health on every corner, in countless conversations, YouTube, you name it. Everyone is seeking health, and no one seems to know where to find it.
What makes our voice different? We’re not selling a product. We don’t represent a brand. We’re not pushing the latest trend.
Our message is simple: Healing is possible, and it’s time. Time to heal. Time to be well so you (and we) can serve well.
Health isn’t about right food or a right-sized body. Health is about real people – like you and me! – living real lives, eating real food and learning to live through the real challenges life brings that threaten our health, our joy, and our call to serve. Health is about stepping beyond consensus reality. Health is about changing the way we think.
As founder and executive director, it is my privilege to invite you and those who lead in the communities where you live to lean into lives where being mindful is your default setting, eating is spiritual practice, and serving others is an organic result of your own deep healing.
I invite you and those who lead in the communities where you live to lean into a life where being mindful is your default setting, eating is spiritual practice, and serving others is an organic result of your own healing.
I hope you’ll join me and our team in whatever way is best for you. We need you. We need each other.
P.S. Why be(e)? In Hebrew, Deborah means "worker bee." It's as simple as that!
partnerships
We are glad and grateful for the opportunity to partner with other innovative organizations doing good work in our world. In doing so we are able to support the wellbeing of those who serve in these organizations while also expanding the reach of both entities.
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Special thanks to the following partners:
Baptist Women in Ministry of North Carolina
CBF South Carolina
CBF Virginia
meet the faces of bwsw
We are always seeking new faces to help fulfill our mission. Are you willing to offer your energy, resources and service to our growing organization? If you believe in self-care as the strength that fuels our ability to serve, it may be time for you to add your face to our family.
You may even choose to literally get "on board" with us. We hope so.
Tammi Kosack
From the beginning, it was “Tammi’s fault.” In other words, it was Tammi’s personal encounter with illness and her choice to step into wellness that inspired “all this” . . . the nonprofit you are exploring in these pages and the resources we hope to offer to others facing similar experiences.
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Diagnosed in early 2013 with what she was told was a “rare, incurable” form of colitis – microscopic colitis – Tammi chose to step away from conventional medicine and its offerings, stepping into a healing path that led to “all this.” Through targeted plant-strong foods, a renewed yoga practice and movement strength, months of acupuncture treatments to rewire her energetic circuitry, myriad lifestyle changes, and deep emotional, mental, and spiritual exploration, she healed. Fully and completely. Not a symptom in sight to this day. Rare? Maybe. Incurable? Clearly not.
​Thus began the curiosity of her friend, our Executive Director, Deborah, who hd a front row seat to watch Tammi’s transformation. Thus began Deborah’s own exploration of wellness – stepping away from 20 years in the design industry to begin studying the foods we eat, the life experiences that eat at us, and the impact of both on our wellness and wholeness.
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bwsw was born, and Tammi continues to lead the way. She is an example of insatiable curiosity, an advisor with wise insights, a volunteer whenever needed, and a believer that healing is always possible. She inspires bwsw and the healing hope we offer to those who serve.
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And, by the way, the photo is taken 5 weeks after Tammi fell 16’ from a ladder, breaking her back in two places, and healing without surgery, medications, or even one night in a hospital. As her niece, Claire, says: “Tammi knows a thing or two about healing!”
It was a conversation with Devita that started it all . . . that is after quite a wellness journey for our Executive Director. As a minister and longtime supporter of others in ministry, Devita understands the needs of those who serve – whatever the calling. She understands that self-care isn’t selfish and that many who serve others neglect themselves in the process. She also believes in agency over our own health in partnership with the Divine.
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Devita is fully committed to consciousness in her own wellness journey, a journey that includes a mindful plant-strong eating lifestyle, daily movement, intentional rest, and learning to say “no” when it means “yes” to being well and serving well. Devita’s mantra is “show up,” and she has done that often since bwsw began serving those who serve.
Devita Parnell
Beth Smith
Beth is our financial guru, faithful pray-er, and fun friend – the photo says it all!
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In her own life and family, Beth seeks health from myriad angles - sipping herbal teas, eating consciously, moving, pausing, while also incorporating more conventional approaches. She walks the holistic talk of being well and serving well. In her own words . . .
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I support be(e) well serve well because it uplifts those who pour into others by encouraging them to also care for themselves. Too often, caregivers and changemakers overlook their own well-being, and the bwsw initiative provides the support and resources they need to stay balanced and strong. It’s a reminder that your health matters just as much as the work you’re called to do.
Hi, I’m Dixie! My loving mother is Mary Beth, and each quarter, we help publish Table Talk, the be(e) well serve well newsletter. We love reading all of the articles and recipes and learning how to live better and healthier lives. bwsw’s Executive Director, Deborah, has been a good friend for many years, and we look forward to seeing how many more people are influenced by her great work.
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Note from Deborah: a simple comment from Mary Beth has encouraged me over many years. I’m not sure now if it was in a text or in person. Basically, she said, “I think you’re on to something that can make a difference.” I hope so.
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Mary Beth Lively
From the typing paws of her beloved, Dixie . . .
Gerry Hutchinson
Gerry is our banjo-strumming, ever-willing, generous and kind guide. Gerry was one of our first participants in the early days, and he says this about his experience:
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I first learned about be(e) well serve well at a conference sponsored by my faith group where Deborah led a workshop. I was intrigued. Later, I participated in a yearlong cohort that received teaching and coaching. The group held periodic get-togethers to share insights and to encourage one another. As a retired minister, I heartily commend the good work done through bwsw.
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Gerry’s ideas have sparked a trip to Kentucky honoring the memory of his sister through partnership with a local food bank in the area where she lived. He has joined our Executive Director at a Georgia high school supporting teachers through distribution of care packages following a tragic shooting at the school. And yes, his banjo-strumming has welcomed retreat guests to our annual pause to emPower retreats in the mountains of north Georgia.
Leslye Wilkins is our graphics designer and photographer extraordinare, and if we could take her with us to every event we would. Leslye has an eye for detail - capturing hugs, capturing outstretched hands, capturing quiet pauses, and capturing the healing joy of being well and serving well. Her photos fill this website. Her graphics invite participation. Her gentle presence encourages. We are grateful.
Leslye Wilkins
Patsy Long
Patsy Long is our Big Canoe connection. What’s that, you ask? Patsy is the reason we have the privilege of hosting retreats at Canoe Lodge in the north Georgia mountains at Big Canoe. (Photos throughout our website capture the peace of this special place.)
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Patsy has known our Executive Director for more years than either would like to say – so please don’t ask her any questions! Encourager. Volunteer. Serving tea and warm welcomes every fall. Oh, and at 82 and counting (You’d never know!) she’s also a pretty good golfer, with five (5!!!!!) hole-in-one trophies . . . so far!
After almost five years of serving as volunteer bookkeeper for our growing nonprofit, Tracie has accepted the title of board treasurer. Her skills are a gift, and her generous spirit is deeply appreciated.
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Tracie lives in historic Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island where she serves as Executive Director of another nonprofit. Did we mention her generous spirit? Tracie is wife, mother, dog-lover, and friend. Soon we hope to share a face for you to put with this name... in the meantime, the beach!! Ahhhhh...
Tracie Fasel
Jody Althouse
Jody joins our “faces” with years of experience in higher education. She knows the unique pressures of teaching as a profession, one that serves students, families, and communities and one that often leads educators to neglect their own needs. Jody brings to bwsw a wealth of experience in grant-writing, too, and we are grateful for her willingness to tap these skills in hopes of funding future programs serving both educators and faith leaders.
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Jody is also passionate about growing vegetables and preserving, sharing, and enjoying the bounty of her garden, quite possibly the most beautiful garden you might hope to see. Canning the harvest is a time-consuming labor of love that fuels health and mindful living, and we applaud both.
