DEFINING MOMENT: Dallas/Fort Worth businesswoman Ykia Williams outlasts 'suicidal' thoughts, starts a credible nonprofit organization

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (Romans 15:1 KJV)

LOVIN’ THE SKIN SHE’S IN

DALLAS — March is recognized as National Keloid Awareness Month.

To her distinctly unique credit, Ykia Williams customarily goes to great lengths to help empower what she appropriately describes as the “community of people” who cope with keloid skin.

Williams, 39, is the Founder and Executive Director of HER SKIN Foundation, her Dallas/Fort Worth-based nonprofit organization that has become a fixture for providing support groups and mentoring programs for women and children, particularly those in the state of Texas and around the world who are affected with keloid skin and other skin diseases.

A rising endeavor that was established in the final quarter of 2019, HER SKIN Foundation officially acquired its 501c3 status in September of that year.

Such a notable institution wasted little time making its presence felt when it hosted what is known as a Winter Glamour Carnival in January 2020, during which 50 women attended what organizers described as an “empowering” evening.

MORE ON HER SKIN FOUNDATION: https://www.herskinfoundation.co/

“Then the world was shut down by COVID-19,” Williams, during an interview this week with Making Headline News, said, recalling how quickly the community has embraced her organization. “We didn’t stop. We started featuring women with skin conditions on social media and in our digital magazine.”

Prior to organization’s event to kick off 2020, Williams and her staff collectively joined forces and fed 100 people in her native establishment of Waco, Texas, an event that included prayer and breakfast-to-go.

“And we started our HER TYME social media group to empower minority women with skin conditions,” Williams said. “I’m just getting started and I will not stop.”

So far, so good for an up-and-coming faith-based nonprofit, one in which Williams is convinced its best and brightest days are well ahead of it, given the immeasurable strides it has made since its much-anticipated inception.

According to statistics she disclosed to Making Headline News, Williams discovered that:

84.5 million Americans — or one in four individuals — were impacted by skin disease and,

One in three Americans with skin disease were seen by a dermatologist, who collaborates with other physicians throughout the health care system in caring for these patients.

Also, Williams learned, “For minorities, the number of people who see a dermatologist is actually lower because minorities have a difficult time finding a doctor who is capable to properly diagnose them. Textbooks don’t teach on melanated skin, and the percentage of minority doctors in the dermatologist field is less than 10 percent.”

For what it’s worth, such astounding figures, by all accounts, practically sum up why Williams deemed it essential to establish a nonprofit organization that figures to have a massive impact for generals to come, especially on those affected with keloid skin and other skin diseases.

**LEADING BY EXAMPLE —** “It is my personal mission to ensure that more research is done on melanated skin,” continued Williams, who recently self-published the book, Confidently Scarred. “It is my mission to give scholarships to minorities entering a skincare program or graduating med school. It is my mission to ensure that people with skin conditions receive proper treatment and care by advocating on their behalf. It is my mission to partner with healthcare professionals that will provide research on melanated skin conditions.”

When asked how her competitive drive has greatly fueled her desire to start HER SKIN Foundation, Williams alluded to when she was a tender age of eight, during which she developed keloid scarring after acquiring chicken pox.

“I wondered for years why God would allow my body to be inflicted with keloids,” Williams explained. “I would often resent how I looked, which took a toll on my self-esteem, my self-confidence, and my self-worth.”

So affected Williams was by her unlikely skin condition that she often questioned her very existence.

“I found myself wanting to commit suicide on several occasions because of my skin,” Williams said rather bluntly. “In 2016, I reached a breaking point and decided to have surgery. As a result of the survey, my condition worsened due to the surgical procedure. Many doctors say that there is a solution, but after 30 years, I haven’t found a dermatologist or surgeon that could resolve this concern.”

As Williams emphasized, the costs for surgery and after care is “way too high.”

All things considered, though, Williams doesn’t shy away from the notion that she has one pivotal — and life-altering — thing on which to rely: frequent doses of unwavering faith.

“I began to pray because my faith in Jesus Christ has kept me alive to tell my story,” Williams says without hesitation. “Through prayer, God began to heal all of my broken pieces and rebuild my self-confidence. He gave me the vision to help others living with skin conditions and inner scars. It was in prayer that HER SKIN Foundation came about. I did some research to ensure that the vision that I was seeing was, in fact, the area that I should move in.”

MORE ON HER SKIN FOUNDATION: https://www.herskinfoundation.co/

**DISPLAYING AGAPE LOVE —** Prior to organization’s event to kick off 2020, Williams and her staff collectively joined forces and fed 100 people in her native establishment of Waco, Texas, an event that included prayer and breakfast-to-go.

And, the rest, as they say, was history.

A little more than a year removed from having witnessed her ascending nonprofit organization come full circle, Williams has become greatly inspired to view her improbable condition from God’s perspective, all the while fervently empowering others who share a similar story to follow suit.

As Williams vividly explained, there are three core values on which her organization prides itself:

Support — To ensure every woman and child has a community of supporters

Empower — To give empowerment when confidence is lacking and,

Educate — to educate communities through conversations about normalizing skin conditions.

“It is our mission to advocate for the disparities of people of color in the dermatology industry by engaging, networking, and partnering with health care professionals and our community,” Williams said. “I am just like these women, and it is my personal mission to ensure that each woman have a sense of normalcy and peace.

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**HAVING A MASSIVE IMPACT —** *To her distinctly unique credit, Williams customarily goes to great lengths to help empower what she appropriately describes as the “community of people” who cope with keloid skin.*

“It is my personal mission to ensure that more research is done on melanated skin,” continued Williams, who recently self-published the book, Confidently Scarred. “It is my mission to give scholarships to minorities entering a skincare program or graduating med school. It is my mission to ensure that people with skin conditions receive proper treatment and care by advocating on their behalf. It is my mission to partner with healthcare professionals that will provide research on melanated skin conditions.”

Amongst the reasons is that to her distinctly unique credit, Williams has become greatly inspired go to great lengths to help empower what she appropriately describes as the “community of people” cope with keloid skin.

Talk about an admirable and courageous act of service to the community — and beyond.

**THE LUKE 18:1 FACTOR —** “I began to pray because my faith in Jesus Christ has kept me alive to tell my story,” Williams says without hesitation. “Through prayer, God began to heal all of my broken pieces and rebuild my self-confidence. He gave me the vision to help others living with skin conditions and inner scars. It was in prayer that HER SKIN Foundation came about. I did some research to ensure that the vision that I was seeing was, in fact, the area that I should move in.”

For more information about Dallas/Fort Worth Businesswoman Ykia Williams of HER SKIN Foundation, to schedule her for a public appearance or speaking engagement, call 469.248.5094 or connect with her via social media at: https://www.facebook.com/HERSKINFoundation. Also, send email to: [email protected].

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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to [email protected] or to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.