Transforming challenging life circumstances into positive growth and change is what this volume is meant to celebrate and hopes to inspire. The women published here responded to a call for essay submittals for the 2011 Challenge into Change Essay Contest sponsored by The Woman's Initiative. The agency's first Executive Director, Kerry Day, started the contest as a way to celebrate our first year of inception in 2007. As Kerry says at the inaugural celebration: "This contest is important because The Women's Initiative believes in the power of words - in their ability to heal, to unite, and to illuminate. As a writer, I know how painful it can be to put life's truths onto paper. It takes great courage and strength. And part of the beauty of this process is that through sharing our own stories we have the opportunity to restore, not only ourselves, but everyone who reads our words."