NONPROFIT AGENCY Helping other women

The organization will assist mothers with various aspects of childbirth.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Taunya Fuller has always dreamed of helping other women deal with life's issues, and now that dream has become a reality.
Fuller is the founder of the nonprofit Helping Other Women organization.
The HOW organization has been around for a few years, but the idea had been growing in Fuller's mind for many years before the organization's inception.
"My goal, as early as 12 years old, was to do this very thing -- have an organization that could help other women," she said.
Her background
Fuller has a bachelor's degree in social work from Youngstown State University and had previously worked for Forum Health Southside and Northside medical centers for 26 years. During that time, people would seem to gravitate to her for help and advice on various problems and situations.
"I was like an all-resource person," she said. "People knew they could come to me for answers on whatever issues were in their lives -- landlords, children, co-workers."
Support group
It was during that time that Fuller decided to turn the private advice sessions into a more inclusive work support group. She was instrumental in starting an "inspirational time" during lunch breaks at the hospital.
Fuller and several other co-workers got together daily for prayer and spiritually based support from other employees. She said the group meetings had a relaxed atmosphere in which women could discuss any issue affecting their lives.
Fuller said the support group continued at the hospital after she was no longer employed there, but she helped start a second support group at Oak Missionary Baptist Church, where her husband, the Rev. Wayne L. Fuller, was associate pastor.
She said the regular meetings continued, until one morning while sitting at her kitchen table she got the idea to domore. She said a short time later, while visiting the public library, she came across a book that detailed how to start a nonprofit organization and HOW was officially born.
The organization now includes eight members and a two-woman advisory board, and HOW is seeking more volunteers. All members of the organization are women from the area and deeply involved in their churches, she said.
Fuller said the regular meeting sessions continue, but the work of the organization has expanded to include clothing giveaways, prayer breakfasts, seminars and informational fairs for women and a fund-raiser for Ramona Vines, a Youngstown woman who was in need of a double lung transplant.
Birthing Project USA
Fuller said members of the organization are now looking forward to taking over handling the "Birthing Project USA, the underground railroad for new life."
The free program is in place nationwide and was once sponsored locally by the National Council of Negro Women and Humility of Mary Health Partners.
Each woman who enters the program is assigned a volunteer mentor, or "sister friend," from the community who, over time, will assess the woman's needs and find ways to address whatever those issues may be. Volunteers attend childbirth preparation and parenting classes, and act as a birth partner if needed.
Sister friends also see that the expectant mother has transportation to doctor visits, is eating properly and has necessary clothing for herself and the baby to come. They are expected to stay in touch with the mother through the child's first year of life.
Other issues
Fuller said HOW also will assist women in finding resources to deal with such issues as domestic violence, low self-esteem, finances and spiritual concerns.
She said the organization cannot yet offer financial assistance, but it does have members with the experience to help find available resources.
Those who would like to get in touch with Helping Other Women Inc. can call (330) 750-9443.
jgoodwin@vindy.com