Madison shop leads to blessings paid forward and ‘Holy Spirit moments’

Bonnie Wentworth talks with customers about the upscale wigs she sells in Penelope’s Covered Blessings shop in Madison on July 11. A portion of the proceeds from all items sold in the shop, including faith-based merchandise—both Catholic-specific and general Christian—go toward helping patients at Norton Cancer Institute in Madison and those suffering hair loss from cancer and other medical conditions. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

MADISON—After 27 years volunteering and working for the two schools of Prince of Peace Parish in Madison, Bonnie Wentworth knew her life would change when she retired in 2022.

But there was one change she never expected, especially at 54.

“I always had big ‘80s hair,” says Wentworth. “About six or eight months after I retired, my hair started to fall out. It looked like somebody all of a sudden had taken a razor and shaved it from the top of my head all the way to the back.”

Devastated, she looked for a solution. In the process, God covered her with blessings—and showed her a way to do the same for others.

In 2023, Wentworth and her husband Nathan opened Penelope’s Covered Blessings in downtown Madison, selling a unique mix of upscale wigs, turbans and faith-based gifts. A portion of the proceeds from every item sold is used to help those with cancer-caused or medical hair loss—turning every purchase into a blessing.

But Wentworth, who manages the business, says she gains far more than she gives. By hearing the stories and journeys of customers, clients and passersby, by praying with them personally and by praying daily over the intentions they hang on a board in the shop, “My faith grows stronger every day,” she says.

“I was looking for ways to fix myself, but God had a different plan.”

‘That was kind of the turning point’

In 2023, shortly after Wentworth started losing her hair, a friend told her about a woman originally from Madison who sold wigs and posted videos about them online.

Wentworth was skeptical. But she watched some videos—and was so intrigued by how natural the wigs looked that she contacted the woman.

“She said, ‘Why don’t I come to Madison and we’ll have, like, a little party at your house with some of your friends,’ like with any other thing people sell,” Wentworth recalls.

She agreed and mentioned it to some ladies as she was having her nails done at a salon.

“They said, ‘There’s nothing like that around here. Why don’t you have your wig party at the salon?’ So, we advertised it on social media,” says Wentworth.

“People came from all over. There were 18-year-olds and there were 80-year-olds. There were people with cancer. There were people with medical hair loss of all kinds. And there were people with no issues [who] just wanted to try on wigs and see what it was like.”

The originally planned four-hour afternoon event lasted until nearly midnight, and about 15 wigs were sold.

“It was emotional,” says Wentworth. “I was crying. People were crying. There were people laughing. It was just such a good feeling to help people and to see how it transpired.

“And everyone said, ‘Bonnie, you’re retired. You need to do this.’ ”

Wentworth resisted, but her friends continued to encourage the idea. So did her husband.

“Nathan was one of my biggest supporters,” she said. “He was like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. This is something that you really need to pursue.’ ”

Wentworth, who along with Nathan worships at Prince of Peace, took the idea to prayer, asking God for guidance.

Not long after, she received a message from a staff member at the Norton Cancer Institute in Madison.

“She said, ‘When are you going to do another one of those pop-ups? Because we have several people that missed it that would have really been interested.’

“And my husband looked at me, and he said, ‘How many more signs do you need?’ And that was kind of the turning point.”

‘A mission and journey’

Wentworth ordered some wigs, and she and Nathan leased a small space in the Trolley Barn Shops on Madison’s Main Street to open what was then called A Wig and a Prayer. They shared about the new venture on social media.

Two people reached out before the shop was ready, a woman with medical hair loss and a mother in her 20s with stage four breast cancer.

“Their stories were both so humbling,” says Wentworth. “And right then, we knew that this was going to be more of a mission and a journey than it was about fixing me. God put me in a place to show me something different. … I just knew after meeting with these two gals, this is what I wanted to do.”

Knowing walk-ins for wigs would not be steady, Wentworth added Catholic-specific and general Christian merchandise to the shop, from rosaries and sacrament-themed cards and gifts to Jesus dolls and faith-based jewelry.

Every item purchased is turned into a blessing.

“We use [a portion of the] proceeds from everything we sell to donate turbans and gift cards for patients at Norton,” she explains, noting the gift cards help traveling patients afford gas, groceries, eating out and more.

Customers contribute, too, purchasing and donating turbans sold at the shop and bringing in gift cards. Once a month, Wentworth delivers the items to the Norton staff to distribute to patients as needed.

And in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the business holds a community-wide, month-long gift card drive for Norton patients, with contributed cards totaling nearly $3,000 each of the last two years.

The shop became a means for customers, the community and Wentworth to pay blessings forward.

‘We want to bless whoever we can’

Still, Wentworth felt called to do more.

“It just kept weighing on me that I wanted to give wigs,” which typically cost between $325-$500, she says. But medical privacy laws prohibited Norton’s staff from giving her contact information for those in need.

So, Wentworth went to social media. She posted a form on the shop’s Facebook page for anyone to nominate a person with hair loss—whether from cancer or other medical reasons—who can’t afford a wig.

“It could be they don’t have insurance or a health savings account or any other means to purchase a wig,” she explains. “They can nominate themselves even.”

Wentworth then selects a nominee to receive a free wig and fitting, paid for with a portion of the shop’s proceeds.

To date, 19 women have been helped by what she calls the Blessing Program.

“We don’t receive any reimbursement from taxes,” she says. “We just want to bless whoever we can, because we know that that’s what God’s calling us to do,” she says.

‘Let me be a blessing in someone’s life’

There have been challenges along the way.

With no other business in Indiana named A Wig and a Prayer, the Wentworths had no trouble receiving approval for the name from the state licensing board.

Early in 2024, Wentworth received a call from someone in Michigan. Not only did the person’s business bear the same name, but they had it trademarked. The couple would have to change the name of their Madison shop.

“I cried about it for about a day and a half, because I loved our name,” says Wentworth.

When the tears had dried, she thought, “What is it we do here?” The first word that came to mind was “blessing.”

“Every day I get up and I ask God to let me be a blessing in someone’s life,” she says. “And he’s given me so many blessings.”

Wentworth also thought of the comfort she found in Psalm 91, particularly its image of “how God covers us with his wings and protects us,” she says. “Then I thought how wigs cover us, and I knew I wanted ‘covered’ in the name.”

Finally, she thought of her mother Penelope, noting, “I wouldn’t have my faith if it wasn’t for her.”

In March of 2024, the shop moved to a larger space in the Trolley Barn and became Penelope’s Covered Blessings.

That December, Wentworth’s mother died.

“We did not expect that when I had to change the name—we had no idea,” she says, pausing to hold back tears. “I was so happy we were able to honor her with that blessing before she passed.”

The day of her mother’s funeral, Nathan’s father was admitted to the hospital and died just 15 days later.

“We were closed a lot in January,” says Wentworth. “And then things were slow because of the flood” in April that affected Madison and other parts of southern Indiana.

There have been other slow times, too. Wondering if she was on the right path, she “asked God over and over to guide my feet, just guide my feet.

“And that’ll be the day that, even if somebody doesn’t come in and buy anything, somebody would come in and share a story that reminds me why I’m there, what my purpose is.”

‘They’re Holy Spirit moments’

Such stories have become for Wentworth the greatest source of blessing from the shop.

“I get excited when people come in and talk about their faith or their journey, whatever that journey is,” she says. “I want to know more about people and what they’re going through. I want to know more about God and see how he’s at work in their journey.

“I cry more,” she admits, either from a story shared or from learning of the death of a client—the youngest just 12 years old.

“But it’s not always sad tears,” Wentworth continues. “Sometimes it’s happy tears because of their story or if they’re a survivor.”

Prayer often flows through and from the stories. So, Wentworth added a board on a wall in the shop where anyone can leave a written prayer of petition or praise. Before closing the shop at the end of the week, she prays—live on Facebook—for the intentions and those who wrote them.

Wentworth is most moved when “people come in and ask if they could pray with me or pray over me, including people of different faiths, different views,” she says.

“It’s the Holy Spirit. My faith has absolutely grown because of the people, because of the moments, because of the prayers.

“When the days are slow and the people aren’t there, I long for it. I long for people to come in and just share with me what’s going on in their lives.

“They’re Holy Spirit moments, and they just feel so good. And they remind you what your purpose is and that God’s plan is so much bigger.”

Wentworth recalls being 18 and telling her mother she would never go to church again.

“I never thought when I was younger that I wanted to have faith,” she says. “And now I want it. I want to know more, and I believe it so much more, and I want it for everyone.”
 

(For more information on the Blessing Program and to access the form, go to tinyurl.com/PCBBlessingProgram. Gift cards or donations to purchase cards for the October Breast Cancer Awareness gift card drive can be dropped off at Penelope’s Covered Blessings in the Trolley Barn Shops, 719 W. Main St., in Madison, or mailed to Penelope’s Covered Blessings, 1752 McCord Lane, Milton, KY, 40045. Checks should be made out to Penelope’s Covered Blessings with October Gift Card Drive in the memo line. For questions about the Blessing Program or October gift card drive, send a message through Facebook at facebook.com/penelopescoveredblessings or call 812-701-6006.) †