Work / Custom website development · Brand identity · UX & information architecture · Research & content strategy
Risen Widow
Personal project · In development
A founder-led, Nebraska-first resource hub with a custom brand and website system designed to help widows find trustworthy information, practical next steps, and support without searching for every answer alone.
Why I built it
Risen Widow began with a gap I experienced firsthand. When my husband died, our daughter was two months old. I was suddenly navigating grief and parenthood alongside estate matters, benefits, bills, insurance, and a move from Lincoln to Omaha. Helpful information existed, but it was scattered across agencies, organizations, and conversations—and I did not always know which questions to ask first.
The community at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church showed me what coordinated, practical support can look like. Members of the parish community provided meals, diapers, formula, donations, and care for my daughter and me. I wanted to build a digital resource that carries that same spirit of clarity and practical care while helping Nebraska widows find trustworthy options for their own circumstances. The fuller personal story lives on Risen Widow so this case study can remain focused on the strategy, branding, and custom development behind the project.
What I designed and developed
- Created the Risen Widow brand identity, including the logo system, color palette, typography, voice, and visual direction
- Designed and developed a fully custom, responsive website rather than adapting a generic template
- Turned complex questions into a clear information architecture organized around what a widow needs today
- Built a private start-here navigator that creates a useful resource list without requiring an account or sending a widow's selections to a server
- Developed a Nebraska-first resource directory with local, regional, statewide, national, and online fallbacks
- Created content pathways for benefits, housing and household support, grief care, faith support, parenting, and different widowhood circumstances
- Established trust and safety standards through official-source links, visible review dates, editorial policies, professional boundaries, and crisis information
- Designed the interface to reduce overwhelm through plain language, gentle pacing, accessible layouts, and strong mobile usability
What the first version delivers
Risen Widow is now live as a growing, independent resource hub. Its first version combines source-linked guidance, a private resource navigator, a Nebraska directory, faith support, crisis information, and clearly labeled professional boundaries in one cohesive branded experience.
The custom system gives the project a scalable foundation for additional resources, reviewed content, location-based support, and future partnerships. Most importantly, it gives a widow a calmer place to identify the next manageable question or step without presenting grief as a checklist to complete.
