Questions

MySistas is a faith-centered women’s community based in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts. We gather women for brunches, workshops, prayer, panels and mixers so that no woman has to walk through a hard season by herself. The organization is led by founder Kionelie Ortega.

No. MySistas is rooted in Christian values and every woman is welcome, from every background, with love, respect and compassion. You will hear scripture and you will be prayed for if you want to be. Nobody will corner you, quiz you or ask you to sign anything.

It depends on the gathering. Prayer gatherings and community meetups are free. Experiences that include a venue and food, like the Pour into Her brunch, carry a ticket price that covers those costs. Every invitation states the cost plainly before you commit. If cost is the only reason you are not coming, email us at info@mysistas.org and we will work it out.

Around the Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston. Past gatherings have been held in Waltham and on Campagnone Common in Lawrence. Each invitation carries the full address, the time and parking notes.

Yes, and most women arrive that way. Tell us it is your first time when you get there and someone will sit with you. You do not have to bring a friend to leave with one.

Not to come to a gathering. Every gathering is open to any woman, member or not. The Sisterhood is the members' room on this site: community, resources, tools and courses. Sisters set their own monthly amount from $20, and the code KIONELIE opens the door free. The email list is separate and free, and you can leave it any time.

The email list goes out first, then Instagram and Facebook. Dates move and rooms fill, so the list is the only reliable way to hear early. Join it at any time from the email list page.

Real conversation, food, prayer if you want it, and time built for women to talk to each other rather than listen to a stage the whole time. Some gatherings have a panel or a speaker. All of them are built so that a woman who came in alone is not standing alone.

Whatever you feel like yourself in. Some women dress up for the brunches because it feels good to. Nobody is checking.

Not at this time. Some gatherings are built for mothers to have a few hours away, and we say so on the invitation. Ask when you RSVP and we will tell you honestly what that particular room is like.

Our gatherings are for women. Men support the work all the time as sponsors, vendors, partners and volunteers, and that support is genuinely welcome.

No. MySistas is a community organization, not a church, and it is not a substitute for one. Plenty of the women who come have a church home. Plenty do not.

It is read and prayed over. It is not posted, not shared with the group, not read aloud and never used in anything public. You can send it without your name if you would rather.

Yes. Leave the name field blank. The only reason to give an email address is if you want someone to write back to you.

MySistas is a community, not a crisis service, and it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care. If you are in immediate danger call 911. If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the United States for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any hour of the day. Then, when you are ready, come sit with us too.

Yes. Setup, greeting, hosting a table, taking photos, praying with women who ask for it. Email info@mysistas.org and tell us what you are good at.

Yes. MySistas has worked with vendors, sponsors and festival partners already. Vendors and sponsors who serve women well are a real fit. Start with an email and tell us what you do.

No. MySistas is not currently a registered 501(c)(3), so contributions are not tax deductible as charitable donations. Everything given goes into venues, food, supplies and the cost of putting women in a room together.

Into the gatherings. Venue rental, food, decor, printing, insurance for events, and helping cover a seat for a woman who cannot cover her own.

Ask. She has sat on panels about mental health and speaks about faith, sisterhood and building something from a hard start. Email info@mysistas.org with the date, the audience and what you want the room to walk away with.

Adult women across a wide range of ages. The mission is written for women of all ages, and the rooms usually hold women in their twenties through their fifties and beyond.

Gatherings are in person right now. Encouragement, prayer and updates travel by email and social media in between, which is how women who cannot get to a room stay connected.

Several times a year, and the rhythm is growing. Rather than promise a schedule we cannot hold, we announce each gathering by email as soon as the date and the room are confirmed.

Please do. Bringing the friend who has been going through it is one of the most common ways women end up here.

Email info@mysistas.org, call (978) 824-4793, or use the contact form. We reply within two business days. For anything you want held privately, the prayer form goes to the same inbox and is never made public.

Every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom and it works immediately. Leaving the list does not close the door. You are welcome at a gathering either way.