SARAH JAKES ROBERTS’ ‘WOMAN EVOLVE’ ADVANCE NATIONAL COVERAGE: Texas businesswoman Chablis Rekeisha Williams spearheads Houston nonprofit organization amid her sister’s tragic death in 1999
Andre Johnson 
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. (Psalm 139:14/NKJV)
FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
DALLAS — Chablis Rekeisha Williams hastened to social media earlier this week, where she deemed it essential to enlighten the masses of some remarkably amazing news.
For what it’s worth, it was a long time coming.
Said Williams before her gallery of followers via Facebook in an August 28 post that was accompanied by an Avatar selfie image:
I was lost, didn’t know what direction to go! I decided to follow my heart and started my non-profit! “Jamika’s Way Foundation”
MORE ON WILLIAMS’ ORGANIZATION: https://www.facebook.com/rekeisha1
And so it came to pass, the ceremonious startup of Williams’ highly-anticipated Houston-based organization, one that is designed to empower youths about all things self-love and, most importantly, a system that is a fixture for inspiring young people to become better versions of themselves.
Williams named her organization in memory of her sister, Jamika Williams, who died tragically as a result of domestic violence in 1999.
Jamika Williams was burned alive after her boyfriend doused her with gasoline, then set her on fire.
“I want to be a voice for her as well,” Williams told Making Headline News this week.
A rising nonprofit organization that is in its infancy stages, Jamika’s Way Foundation will officially open for operations in November, according to Williams’ August 12 post via Facebook.
Williams has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to cover a variety of essentials for those her organization serves. Monetary donations can made at https://gofund.me/d4215079.
“I’m in need of a grant writer,” Williams said in the recent social media post. “I want to start back helping women get their G.E. D’s. I will send them in the direction of getting the education and, after that, I will pay for their test. I need to link up with other nonprofit organizations.”
As part of Making Headline News’ advance coverage of Sarah Jakes Roberts’ inaugural Woman Evolve Conference September 14-16 from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Williams recalled the memorable developments that inspired her to establish a credible organization that figures to be a monumental game changer for millennials for years to come.
For Williams, 48, her rise to starting Jamika’s Way Foundation comes amid humble beginnings.
“I grew up in an abusive household where I used to watch my dad beat all his women,” Williams recalls. “I was also his punching bag when I went to school with black eyes and busted lips.”
Williams, in fact, found it difficult to recall when her father had ever referred to her by her actual name.
“I was never called my name,” Williams said. “I was always called, ‘bitch’ or ‘hoar.’ My dad also did things to me that a father wasn’t supposed to do to his daughter.”
So dysfunctional was Williams’ childhood environment that she often contemplated taking her own life.
“I grew up suicidal and didn’t know how to love myself only to marry a man that was just like my dad,” said Williams, an advocate for domestic violence awareness. “I was in that relationship for 17 years and got out of it when he went to jail on drug charges.”
Williams would ultimately remarry. Only this time, though, the union was mired by what could be suitably described as self-sabotage on her part, she recalls.
“I eventually got married again and, by that time, I was suicidal, burning myself with cigarettes,” Williams told MHN. “My husband tried everything to help me, but it didn’t work because I didn’t love myself.”
Fortunately for Williams, her solid support system would eventually help her adopt a new lease on life, something by which she doesn’t merely take lightly now that her disastrous past is where it belongs: behind her.
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“(My husband) finally encouraged me to do what was on my heart,” Williams explained. “I eventually opened my nonprofit and started helping children that were going through similar things. I designed journals, started reaching out to people who were holding seminars, and so on. I want to help as many children as I can. I want them to realize that it’s never their fault.”
Besides aiding individuals obtain their G.E.D (General Educational Development), Williams’ Jamika’s Way Foundation customarily collects clothing for the homeless, as well as assisting them with finding employment.
“I do all these things out of my own pockets,” Williams, the author of the Summer 2023-released book, Remember To Love Yourself, said. “I love that I can help people, whether they are children or adults.”
An organization that will service individuals and groups ranging in ages six-to-18, Williams hopes Jamika’s Way Foundation ultimately emerges as a national movement, of sorts.
“Right now, I am only in Houston,” Williams said. “But I would love to branch out in different states.”
By all accounts, Williams said she grateful of her valiant supporters, a group that is spearheaded by her husband, Andre Drumgoole, and includes Ruby Carter-Bridges, Latanya Mayes, Deandrea Clayton, Grace Cornett, Tia Nelson-Spencer, her daughter, Lakeithria Love, Cassandra Jones, and Mary Bibb, among others.
“She took me under her wing when I was broken,” Williams said of Bibb. “She never knew what I was going through, but she was always there for me in any kind of way she could. She always called me her adopted daughter.
“Those are the people that I want to honor for pushing me to do what I am doing. And every time I thought about giving up, they were a voice of reason.”
WILLIAMS THE AUTHOR
Williams’ community involvement spans some five years.
“I also feed families out of my own refrigerator,” she said. “And I pass Christmas toys to families in need.”
While she continues to work on the startup of her nonprofit, Williams said she’s open to making public appearances and speaking invitations as a strategic way to share her life-altering testimony, one she figures will help enrich and shape the lives of others — for the rest of their lives.
OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE
“I am currently looking to speak at conferences,” Williams said. “And I also want to create a movement that everyone will understand that the change starts with us. I want children to grow up and be children. I want them to love themselves and always have a mission to succeed.”
Just like she did.
Mission accomplished.
SEASON OF A REBIRTH
A RELATED STORY: WILLIAMS SPEAKS WITH HOUSTON’S FOX 26
https://www.fox26houston.com/video/1263016
For more information about Houston Businesswoman Chablis Rekeisha Williams of Jamika’s Way Foundation, to schedule her for a book signing, public appearance, or speaking engagement, connect with her via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rekeisha1. 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.
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