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Meet Shawanda R Randolph of DeeCilla Comfort Center in Avondale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawanda R Randolph.

Shawand, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We all have hopes, goals, and dreams. I believe the challenge is understanding how our dreams and goals will develop over time. Sometimes what we set out to do accomplish may not look like what we first imagined, yet through flexibility, guidance and resilience, it could turn out better than expected.

As a child, I knew I would grow up to help others, but could not pinpoint how. I had this crazy idea that I would somehow be both a lawyer and a doctor. Someone once said that was not possible, but I was adamant that it was. Later, when I was 15 years of age, I revealed that I had experienced years of abuse. I, again, would refuse to accept someone’s beliefs regarding my future, this time how they saw me as a victim. I never wanted to accept what others said I could do or not do based on the limits they tried to impose on me. Little did I know or come to realize that my life would be full of taking the unconventional road to accomplish many goals.

Everything from starting and competing in martial arts before I began school, to the many experiences I would have in my life, career, education that would help me obtain my goal of “helping others.” Or reaching the goal of using my life to change the perception of how others to see, feel and think about abuse, healing, and pursuing purpose.

My thirty-year journey to prepare me, for this very moment, would encompass a successful Air Force Career. A career, I never thought I would have, or wanted. I realized that part of my unwanting it was due to my misunderstanding of what it could be. Much like how many would believe my life was destined to be a certain way because they did not know or understand me, I did the same about the Air Force. It turned out to be the greatest place to help me become the best me. It helped me to obtain the training I never thought I would obtain, meet people, I never thought I would meet and have experiences I never imagined having. All of which would help shape and prepare me, giving me the tools I needed to ultimately start and successfully operate DeeCilla Comfort Center. This is the place where I am pursuing my passion of helping others, and changing the perception of how we see, feel, and think about abuse and healing.

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?
Anything worth having is worth the pursuit. That means, also accepting the challenges that come along the way. The toughest challenges were sometimes believing I had it all figured out. Thinking I knew exactly how things would end up, only to learn, I was still on a road of obtaining greater knowledge and wisdom. From working in the medical arena obtaining years of education, thinking yes, I will have a forever career in hospital administration running a healthcare facility. Only to later learn, what I was thinking was not it. I had to learn that what I knew and understood was quite limited. Therefore I struggled to understand, at times, where I was headed when things did not turn out as expected. Learning to change your perception about things so you can succeed can be quite challenging.

Also, helping others to change their perception about you can be challenging. DeeCilla Comfort Center is the “new kid on the block.” We are an unfamiliar organization making its mark in the community. That means we must overcome the perception of what it means to be new.

In the community, as we began to gain momentum, we must continue to convince others that while we are new and unfamiliar to them, the work we are doing is not unfamiliar to us. While the organization is young, there are decades of experience, education, and research that went into the background of setting us up, before we decided to make our mark. Unfortunately, when we would much rather spend time doing the work we understand is much needed, we struggle as we are spending more time convincing many that we are experienced enough to stand behind what we are doing. It makes it tough to gain the supporters needed to really move us where we need to be, yet, we are still moving forward as we are confident in our plan and experience. In addition, I am secure in my understanding and knowledge to keep us moving forward, thanks to my unexpected unconventional Air Force career and life experiences.

We’d love to hear more about your organization.
DeeCilla Comfort was formed from passion and compassion. Understanding, first-hand the healing journey of a survivor and the vital role relationships play in one’s healing, I created DeeCilla Comfort Center.

I wanted to establish an organization that would educate, empower, and encourage a community to make informed decisions to not only support survivors but also help break the cycle of abuse for future generations. As a child survivor of abuse, I was told I would now have to live as a victim. An “advocate” attempting to provide support, though I would now have a life that did not have much hope, due to my circumstances. I set out then, on a course to use my life as a demonstration that we are not what happened to us, yet events can help shape and mold us.

Thanks to a large community of people I have met over my life, along my recovery journey, I learned the value of relationships. I learned how to identify who people were and the unique gifts each possessed to help me along my journey.

After a long journey of not only healing but education, and work/life experiences, I established DeeCilla Comfort Center. This is a place of refuge for survivors of abuse. Here they can obtain resources to help them along their healing journey.

We take a unique approach to our healing and recovery journey than many other non-profits. Our model, CARE, the DeeCilla Way, allows us to provide services through Community Collaboration, Awareness by attacking systemic issues that contribute to abuse, Responsibility (reaching all areas of the community, proving we can all make a difference), Example (demonstrating what it means to love our neighbor). We do this through outreach workshops that help change the trajectory of how we see, feel about and understand abuse.

I would say, that our approach is something I am most proud of. It would seem to make more sense to say, helping people, would be what we are most proud of. However, it is because of our model, and approach to CARE, that we are able to help survivors and prevent future abuse. It is not always easy to stick to something you believe in when others question your methods or appear to not understand them. Yet, for DeeCilla Comfort Center, we try to persevere and keep pushing forward. We understand that we were want to be different and take a different approach to accomplish something different. At DeeCilla Comfort Center, we are Change Makers. We are creating the change we want to see.

What were you like growing up?
I am certain that whatever I say, I may have a family that remembers me in another light. Isn’t that how is it? But seriously, I would say that I was a “fighter.” I was disciplined, determined, and also quite resilient.

I loved school and loved to read. I remember we had this horrible snowstorm for one year. You could not tell me that we did not have school and I was determined to get there. I remember getting up and dressed. My parents were keeping my little sister home, but I said, I was determined to get to school. So, I headed out in the snow and started my journey. It was because I stopped at the store, that I learned there was no school, due to the blizzard the night before.

Maybe, you can say, I have always been a fighter with a lot of determination. I guess it also came in handy because I was in karate for most of my childhood and young adult life. I was competing in tournaments before I began school, but that helped to also contribute to my level of discipline and focus.

I loved sports. I used to sit up late watching basketball, baseball, boxing and oh, I loved, loved watching the Olympics, especially track and field. So, I studied athletes and other “successful” and interesting people to learn about their life and what they overcame to reach where they were. That also related to later favoring reading biographies and autobiographies. I still prefer to read about someone’s life rather than fiction. I find learning about people and their stories very intriguing, but also inspiring. My interests have not changed much, instead, I would say they are more refined.

Pricing:

  • Outreach workshops range between Free-$45 and help cover cost of individual services for survivors
  • Support workshops for grief, loss, and recovery: $45
  • Declutter Your Life Workshops (managing anxiety and stress): $30
  • Youth Peer 2 Peer Workshops (Creating Teen Dating Violence Prevention Advocates): Free

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