A new mini-series is answering the biblical command to “look after the poor and widowed” by both renovating widows’ homes and helping restore their hearts and emotions amid grief.
The home renovation show, titled “Rebuild and Restore,” is streaming on PureFlix and follows a team of volunteers as they work to rebuild and repair the home of widows in need.
The show is hosted by Ken Fletcher and actress Shannen Fields, who became a widow herself during filming when her husband of 29 years passed away from ALS after a short diagnosis. The show is based on the call in James 1:27 to “look after orphans and widows in their distress.”
Fields said that she, too, is “still adjusting” but wants to share what she’s learned in her grieving process.
She said, “My connection with each one of these women goes way deeper than I ever expected. None of us ever want the title of ‘widow.”
In addition to home renovation volunteers, “Rebuild and Restore” features professionals who help the widows as they heal amid grief.
One is the nonprofit Widow Strong Ministry, which supports area and online widow empowerment events, grief support groups, widow-support service projects and widowed leadership training.
There were over 11 million widowed women and over 3 million widowed men in the U.S. in 2020, according to data compiled by Statista. Widows are often left feeling vulnerable, lonely or struggling to adjust to single life.