About Our Founder, Susan Tripi
Turning Pain Into Purpose
As the Founder of the Sparrow Collective, I was highly motivated to take the pain, heartache, and overwhelm I experienced during own divorce and channel it into something positive for other women who will walk the same path.
You see, I believed in the fairy tale version of marriage and that I was in it for life. I believed that once married, I would grow old with my life partner. Divorce was never an option for me. It simply was not part of my family’s relationship DNA, and, as a progressive Christian, I internalized strong teachings against divorce in the Church.
Nonetheless, divorce showed up on my doorstep.
Divorce shook my world. Every foundation in my life crumbled: social, financial, emotional, physical, and spiritual.
I sunk into financial instability, right away. To address food insecurity, I relied on bi-weekly trips to the local food pantry and temporary support from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. In the early part of my divorce I came down with a severe health condition that required surgery. Were it not for the state-funded health insurance, the quality of my life would have drastically suffered, leaving me in a delicately precarious health condition.
Within weeks of separating, I lost my social circle as entire communities of church friendships cast me aside. Lacking acceptable “biblical grounds” for divorce, I received judgment, shaming, and criticism. Friends that I thought were in it for life, who had become like a second family, turned away. At a time in my life when I needed the emotional support of a community, that community discarded me.
Navigating divorce opened my eyes to the legal gaps that are present in the divorce process that leave women unprotected and in a vulnerable financial position. The distribution of income, assets, and wealth still favors men. Regardless of the stated conditions in the Child Custody Plan, the burden of childcare, educational activities, and extracurricular coordination, as well as lost time in wages due to caring for the health and medical needs of children, continues to disproportionately fall on women.
Yet in the midst of the chaos, I found a way to pull from the ruble the pieces that mattered -- the pieces that became the foundation and springboard for my life post-divorce. (A life in which I am happy, healthy, and experiencing opportunities beyond my wildest imagination.) I witnessed God show up for me, every single day. In ways so tender. so personal. so timely. so present. As I prayed, I often spoke to God about the needs that are present for women during divorce. And I offered myself as an agent for change.
The consistent beat of my heart: God use me as a vessel of your love; use me as an instrument of your peace; use my skills, passions, and abilities to make a positive impact on women during one of the most difficult life transitions they will encounter. In my work as a Certified Divorce Coach, guiding women through the process of divorce and rebuilding, that heartbeat grew louder. I became fully committed to ensuring that no woman journey through divorce feeling alone, isolated, and unsupported
From my experience of advocating and fighting for the resources I so desperately needed, the framework for The Sparrow Collective was born - a supportive living community for women navigating the challenges and complexities of the divorce process, with access to a full continuum of holistic wrap-around services to support every aspect of divorce to ensure women heal, recover, and rebuild with confidence.
Credentials
- CDC Certified Divorce Coach®
- CDC Certified Transition & Recovery Coach®
- Certificate: Somatic Embodiment Coach
- Licensed Salesperson and Realtor® (MA)
- Certificate: Nonprofit Management
- MA in Christian Ministry / Ethics
- BA in Sociology / Public Policy