When Joan Wenglikowski, CFP®, joined the board of Stand Strong, now known as Lumina Alliance, the experience opened her eyes. So many of the people who turned to the organization for help seemed to have everything together.
“You think they’re super confident and you find out they had to escape in the middle of the night with the clothes on their back and their kids,” said Wenglikowski. “They could be people you know, and yet you would never know the trauma they are living.”
The revelation only strengthened her commitment to supporting the nonprofit organization. “I really want to make a difference,” she said. “I can’t change the whole world, but hopefully, I can make a difference for some people.”
Wenglikowski — a Wealth Advisor for Wacker Wealth Partners, a fiduciary financial planning firm in San Luis Obispo— was tapped for the Stand Strong Board of Directors in 2016. She was soon offered the role of treasurer, a fitting responsibility for a financial advisor well-versed in helping clients achieve their goals and looking out for their best interests.
As a board member and treasurer, she helps Lumina Alliance take financial steps to take care of any potential issues.
“For instance, we have worked hard to establish a plan and are putting into practice a reserve for unexpected repairs and regular maintenance for our shelters and transitional housing,” said Wenglikowski. “Our clients deserve a nice place to call home while they are beginning a new life chapter, and it is really great to provide that for them.”
In July 2021, Stand Strong merged with RISE, another San Luis Obispo organization that served victims of intimate partner and sexual violence, to form Lumina Alliance. The two organizations became a larger and more robust organization in an effort to offer streamlined services and better serve survivors and their families throughout San Luis Obispo County.
Lumina Alliance CEO Jennifer Adams said Wenglikowski was instrumental in the merger, having been part of the negotiations from Day 1.
“As Treasurer, Joan was concerned about what it would mean financially for the women’s shelter program should we move forward with the merger. She was very clear about her role in this, and she’s never been afraid to ask hard questions,” said Adams.
Adams added that in the end, Wenglikowski clearly thought the merger was the best move for the community.
“Even though she was asking the hard questions, she was also encouraging that this could work and was part of making it happen,” said Adams.
Wenglikowski’s commitment to ending intimate partner violence inspires her to offer ideas to raise awareness. For example, to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month (now Domestic Violence Action Month) last October, Wenglikowski, a knitter, suggested covering the tree outside local yarn store Yarns at the Adobe in crocheted purple yarn.
“She has great ideas,” said Lumina Alliance Chief Operating Officer Karen Borges. “She thinks big because she such a heart for the nonprofits she serves.”
“Joan is a living example of Wacker Wealth Partners’ ‘give back’ principle,” said Wacker Wealth Partners CEO Ryan Caldwell. “All of us at the firm have been witness to the tireless hours she has provided to Stand Strong, including the many hours required to investigate and complete a merger. Joan is a role model for all of us regarding community involvement, and we congratulate Lumina Alliance on a powerful merger of two vital organizations.”
Lumina Alliance offers an array of services for survivors of intimate partner violence and child abuse, including a 24-hour crisis line, emergency shelter, transitional housing and counseling.
One of the campaigns near and dear to Wenglikowski is prevention — or making sure violence doesn’t happen in the first place.
“If you can prevent it, you don’t have to have emergency shelters, and you don’t have to have transitional housing,” said Wenglikowski.
To that end, Lumina Alliance is teaching healthy relationship skills to the youth. “If someone is doing something that you don’t feel is correct, how do you handle it,” asked Wenglikowski.
Lumina Alliance teaches them avenues other than violence.
“We believe that violence is a learned behavior that can be unlearned or prevented from being learned in the first place,” says the Lumina Alliance “Prevent Violence” webpage. “Our projects aim to guide beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals and our community toward a culture of compassion, respect, and responsibility.”
Added Wenglikowski: “Hopefully, over the next couple of years, we can see some real momentum in our prevention pieces. That’s a big thing for me right now—prevention.”
To learn more about Lumina Alliance, visit the website at luminaalliance.org. You can reach Joan Wenglikowski at (805) 541-1308 or [email protected].