Nonprofit leader Mable Dunbar says effective leadership starts with something simple: being willing to do the same work she asks of everyone else. 

“I’m not above any task,” Dunbar says. “If I’m asking volunteers to do something, I’m right there doing it with them.”

That philosophy has become a foundation of the Women’s Healing & Empowerment Network, commonly known as WHEN, a Spokane-area nonprofit focused on domestic violence prevention, survivor recovery, food insecurity, and community education. 

Dunbar’s path into leadership began long before she founded the organization in 2008. She and her husband Colin Dunbar, a retired pastor, once ministered in Bermuda, where she encountered domestic violence cases that deeply affected her understanding of abuse and trauma within faith communities.

Over time, those experiences, combined with her own personal history and professional counseling work, shaped her mission to create programs focused on healing and empowerment.

Dunbar created and managed similar programs in Niles, Michigan, and 26 years ago, was asked to bring that nonprofit model to Spokane. 

A licensed professional counselor, certified domestic violence counselor, cognitive behavioral therapist, and family mediator, Dunbar holds a doctorate degree in family mediation along with a master’s degree in education and counseling psychology. She has spoken nationally and internationally about domestic violence and abuse recovery, particularly within religious settings.

Dunbar says leadership is less about authority and more about service.

“To me, leadership means serving,” she says. “You cannot lead people if you are unwilling to walk beside them, and walking beside them helps us better understand each person and their needs.”

That approach has helped her organization expand into a multiprogram nonprofit operation serving survivors, families, men seeking behavioral change, and youth education initiatives across the Spokane region.

Women's Healing & Empowerment Network's largest initiatives include Frieda’s Healing Center, Cleone’s Closet Food Pantry and Resource Center, Men of Compassion, YADDA, and the Hope Center.

Frieda’s Healing Center operates as a long-term residential healing home for women and children escaping abusive situations. Residents can stay for up to six months while participating in counseling, life coaching, and other support services designed to help them transition into stability.

Cleone’s Closet Food Pantry and Resource Center, located at 13114 W. Sunset Highway in Airway Heights, distributes food, toiletries, clothing, and other essential items to families in need. The pantry partners with local businesses, grocery stores, farmers, and community donors to help address food insecurity throughout the region.

Dunbar says maintaining dignity for people seeking help is central to the organization’s mission.

Several grocery store chains such as Yoke's Foods Inc. and Grocery Outlet Inc. make consistent, ongoing food donations, while groups including Second Harvest Inland Northwest provide produce and other items that may not traditionally be available in food pantries. Dunbar says community health starts by giving people more options for produce and healthier food, especially for people that can't regularly afford it. 

“When people are struggling, they should never be made to feel less than,” she says. "That's one reason we let them do their own shopping at the food pantry. It helps these people actually get items they will use and gives them a small sense of purpose which is incredibly important for a healing person."

Helping people, such as 22-year-old Emilia Hamrel, feel welcome is what the mission is about, Dunbar says. Hamrel, who lives in Volunteers of America of Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho's Young Adult Shelter, at 3104 E. Augusta in Spokane, takes a series of bus rides to reach Cleone's Closet on Mondays and Fridays. Hamrel says Dunbar's "incredible heart for helping others" keeps her returning to the pantry.

Dunbar's drive to help others stems from her own experiences. After relocating to the U.S. from Bermuda and struggling financially, Dunbar recalls relying on food banks and thrift stores and feeling judged during those difficult periods, she says.

Men of Compassion, another Women's Healing & Empowerment Network program, helps abused and abusive men through support groups, mentoring, crisis counseling, and educational programming. The program was created after recognizing that many abusive behaviors are part of intergenerational cycles that require education and accountability to break, Dunbar says.

The organization also established YADDA, an acronym for Youth Against Dating and Domestic Abuse, which focuses on educating young people about healthy relationships and highlighting the warning signs of abuse. Dunbar says the program also offers scholarship opportunities for Spokane County students.

WHEN's Hope Center provides clothing, household goods, and social support resources for individuals and families facing hardship. Dunbar says the center is one of the organization's most utilized programs.

In addition to direct services, Women's Healing & Empowerment Network hosts conferences, workshops, and educational forums aimed at preventing abuse and supporting healing. Programs such as the Being There Conference and Men of Compassion Conference bring together survivors, counselors, advocates, and community members for discussions surrounding trauma, domestic violence, and recovery.

One of the organization’s primary focuses is helping survivors within religious communities, where abuse can sometimes remain hidden behind cultural or theological pressures, she explains.

Many women stay in abusive relationships because they believe it is their spiritual duty to remain silent or endure mistreatment, and she says her network of services works to address those misconceptions while providing faith-based support without denominational affiliation.

Healing often begins when survivors recognize they deserve safety and dignity, Dunbar says.

“You can actually see the moment when people begin to believe they matter again,” she says. "Seeing that light in someone's eyes is the greatest reward to me."

Despite the organization’s growing reach, Dunbar says the network continues to operate with a relatively small paid staff and a large volunteer network. She credits volunteers and community partners for helping sustain the nonprofit’s expanding services; including former recipient Brenda Hollis, who now volunteers five to 10 hours weekly at the food pantry

"I actually started out getting food here about six years ago," Hollis says. "Through time, the kindness of Mable and the other helpers flipped a switch somewhere, and I realized it is more rewarding to put some effort back in, so I became a volunteer."

For Dunbar, leadership is still rooted in everyday action.

“If we want stronger communities, we have to be willing to serve people directly,” she says. “That means being present, listening, and helping however we can.”