Today we’d like to introduce you to LaTangela Rogers.
LaTangela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a native of San Diego, CA, I have been involved in public service for 15 years. I am very committed to servicing my local community and I have dedicated my life’s work to public service and international missionary service. I am very passionate about mental health awareness. I have endured a lot of trauma throughout my life span, but I was determined not to allow what I have been through to become barrier to my forward mobility. I have shared my journey with depression and anxiety in the first book that I authored entitled, “Lord, Build Me a House.” I decided to share my journey to be a light of hope for others that are struggling with mental illness. In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4 percent) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. Half of all mental disorders begin by age 14 and three quarters by are 24. Only 41 percent of the people who had a mental disorder in the past year received professional health care or other services.
Learning about my own personal struggles and the struggles of others around me is how I began my educational journey of mental illness. This journey sparked my passion to become an advocate for those that are unable to advocate for themselves. Our communities are pledged with mental illness and there are two types of stigmas: Social stigma which involves the prejudiced attitudes that others have around mental illness and self-perceived stigma, which involves an internalized stigma that the person with the mental illness suffers from. I have worked for local government for 11 years during my tenure I have noticed many of my co-laborers suffering with mental illness stemming from work related issues. With all of this knowledge that I have received, I decided to start a non-profit organization, Rose of Jericho Community Development, to eradicate this stigma.
I have traveled extensively throughout Africa and I noticed that there was an extensive amount of people suffering from mental illnesses. There is a lack of treatment and diagnoses throughout the countries that I have traveled. There is a large stigma of mental illness and it is often not recognized as mental illness. This prompted me to extend my nonprofit program services internationally. I have currently launched Rose of Jericho Community Ghana. I have a team of medical missionaries that travel with me to provide medical services and mental health screenings. I have found my calling and I love it!!!! Mental illness and poverty go hand in hand. You cannot treat one without treating the other. I have seen my quality of life increase when I began to provide care for my full being.
My educational background is based on my life journey. I obtained my Bachelor of Arts in Management and a Master of Arts in Human Behavior from National University. I am currently pursuing my doctorate in Organizational Leadership- Behavioral Health at Grand Canyon University. I hope to open the first Rose of Jericho Community Development Center in Accra, Ghana in 2021.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road that I am currently traveling has not been easy. I have faced many obstacles and barriers along the way. Starting a nonprofit organization is not easy. In the beginning, most of the funding comes from personal financing and minimal donations. Engaging donors and retaining them has been my greatest challenge to date. The difficulty in this is finding and meeting people that have to share the same passion and cause that I am passionate about. In order, to receive the money from the donor, I have come to realize that donors only give to what they are passionate about. The lack of funding effected sustainability. I had to find creative ways to keep my vision and dream alive. I sought for mentorship and guidance to help me through the tough paths. Surprisingly I have found that my mentors were able to pull in resources from places that I might not otherwise have had access too. Things never smooth ours with a nonprofit. Every day is different I have found. Nonprofit owners operate from the heart a lot of times. We only see the causes that we want to fix. We have to surround ourselves with people that see beyond the cause into the solutions that will fix the issues. I have surrounded myself with these types of people. This is how my organization continues to expand and to move forward.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Rose of Jericho Community Development (ROJCD) has been providing grassroots community outreach programs to the communities of McKinney, TX and Carrollton, TX. I knew that this organization was challenged to revitalize communities that have been considered nonproductive. This revelation birthed the organization’s name of “Rose of Jericho Community Development Center (ROJCD)”. ROJCD would get off to a slow start. During its inception stages, I would work alone to provide the communities of McKinney and Carrollton with life skills training and development, spiritual counseling, and career counseling. I began to realize the root of poverty was the mindsets of the people living in the communities she served. The organization would expand it’s reaching both nationally and internationally. ROJCD now provides services to Riverside County of California and Accra, Ghana.
Since 2012, ROJCD has grown by leaps and bounds. ROJCD is no longer operated by one individual. It has since expanded its programs and services to offer women’s mental health awareness training seminars & conferences, mental health medical missions to Ghana, community health fairs, and community feedings, spiritual counseling, psychological counseling, community development programs, and youth empowerment summits. Our organization’s primary focus is mental health awareness and community development.
What were you like growing up?
I was a very active child. I loved to investigate what was going on in my local neighborhood. I that was a sign early on that I would become a community activist. I believed early on in the human rights of others around me. In school, I was a social advocate. I never let a moment pass me by that would allow me the opportunity to speak out against what I felt needed to be fixed. I was and still am very outgoing. I love to make others laugh and feel good. I enjoy traveling and that began also when I was younger. I am most interested in African history and culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roseofjericho-cd.org
- Phone: 619-865-3281
- Email: info@roseofjericho-cd.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Roseofjerichocd/
Image Credit:
Amy Dawnelle
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