Why AWE Is the Right Place to Give During Erie Gives 2025
- Curtis Taylor
- Aug 6
- 4 min read
On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Erie County will come together for a powerful day of generosity: Erie Gives Day.
For 12 hours, donations to local nonprofits are matched in part by the Erie Community Foundation—turning each gift into something greater.
This is your chance to invest in something that’s not just providing services—but changing lives.
Go ahead—read what we’re doing. And when you feel it, give.
This is your chance to support Authentic Wellness & Empowerment (AWE).Donate here ➜ eriegives.org/organizations/authentic-wellness-empowerment
💥 The Demand Speaks for Itself: AWE Is the Right Place to Give During Erie Gives
Since opening our doors in January, AWE has already served over 60 individual clients—with just one full-time counselor.
The message is clear: people are ready for more than symptom management. They’re ready for real healing—and they’re seeking AWE because what we’re offering works.
You care about your community. And when something works, it’s worth backing.
Our schedule is full. Our momentum is strong. And our model is built to grow—with your help.
So picture the person who gets to walk through our doors next—because of you. AWE Is the Right Place to Give During Erie Gives
🚀 We’re Building a Movement—Not Just a Counseling Office
AWE isn’t here to deliver services. We’re here to set people free.
Where other programs give a fish…And some may teach the fish-fishing…We help people understand why they stopped eating in the first place and build a life where they choose—and enjoy—their menu in abundance.
Life is stressful. Trauma, burnout, or loss can get heavy. People find ways to survive. But most need a breakthrough, not just survival.
That’s what we help facilitate—including physical and financial well-being. Because once you're feeling better, you do more, choose more, and build life sustainably.
This is healing worth investing in. You’re invited to be a part of it.
Our mission: To empower everyone to overcome the barriers that keep them from the life they most want.
🧠 Led by Purpose—Not Pressure
Authentic Wellness & Empowerment (AWE) was founded and is led by Dr. Curtis Lee Taylor, PhD, LPC, NCC—a licensed counselor, educator, speaker, and leader with lived experience and professional excellence.
Born and raised in Corry, PA, Curtis has a deep understanding of small-town struggle and potential. His journey through teaching, residential treatment work, real estate success, and graduate training led to a clear calling—to build something better.
That calling became AWE—a place where healing is real, power is reclaimed, and people are reminded they were never broken to begin with.
You’re not just donating—you’re joining a movement shaped by love, loss, clarity, and community.
🌀 From Emergency to Emergence
We have deep respect for emergency responders—the heroes who show up when seconds matter.
But most of life doesn’t come with sirens or flashing lights.
It’s lived in the quiet, in-between moments. The kind where the pain is real, but the world just keeps spinning.
Too many people are waiting for someone to come save them—even when what they’re facing isn’t an emergency. It’s an invitation.
What if the heaviness you’re carrying isn’t a crisis to survive… but a call to rise?
That’s the shift we help people make. From barely holding it together—to healing on purpose. From getting by—to finally living well.
And right now, you can help make that shift possible for someone else.
🔄 The AWE Method: Healing That Lasts
We don’t offer generic services—we offer transformation.
RISE Counseling – Six-session, trauma-informed track using EMDR
SHINE Groups – Facilitated experiences for connection and insight
Empowerment Retreats – One-day intensives to reconnect with life and purpose
LECAWE – Our upcoming educational initiative to train future counselors, coaches, and leaders
The AWE Method – A wellness tracker across six domains: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, financial
The Great American AWEVenture – Creative, choose-your-own-adventure narrative exploring identity, relationships, and healing
Bring this model of lasting healing to more people. It starts right now—with your decision.
🙌 Your Gift Becomes a Building Block
On Erie Gives Day, every dollar is matched—so it goes further.
But more importantly—it goes deeper.
$25 = Pre-retreat assessment
$50 = Meals during a full-day retreat
$100 = Counseling session for someone without insurance
$250 = Launches a SHINE group that supports five people
Your generosity becomes someone else’s breakthrough.
🌟 Help Us Keep Saying Yes
🗓 Tuesday, August 12, 2025🕗 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.🌐 www.eriegives.org/organizations/authentic-wellness-empowerment
When you give to AWE, you’re supporting more than a nonprofit. You’re helping people reclaim peace, rediscover power, and create the life they most want.
Take 60 seconds. Make your gift. Join something real.
✅ You’ll feel good knowing you made a difference.✅ You’ll help us say “yes” to someone who’s needed a breakthrough for too long.
💛 Give to AWE.
Because healing should be honest. Because empowerment should be real. Because Erie deserves more than survival—it deserves to rise, shine, and heal for real.
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