Dr. Taysheedra Allen is no stranger to working with women and girls in efforts to provide guidance and assistance around community resources and paths forward from crises in and around her DeForest community. Starting the DeForest nonprofit Women’s Place & Resource Center (WPRC) in 2015 came after Dr. Allen received her doctorate of education that same year, and she knew the next steps she wanted to take to make an impact.
Going even further than just starting and sustaining WPRC, Dr. Allen also looked to find ways to provide additional space and opportunities for women and girls in the community, and that is how the free “It’s Your Journey” gatherings came to fruition and are set to kick off for this year on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the DeForest Public Library.
“It’s a compilation of the different work that I do with the women that come to the Women’s Place & Resource Center,” Dr. Allen told Madison365. “Their journeys are so different, yet the needs are so similar, which is just the growth and development, the enrichment, the encouragement, and the training. Seeing that across the board, not just with my nonprofit, but also as a nurse of well over 20 years, I just put all of those concepts together and created a workshop that offered space for females, 13 and older, to come and have a space to just be. To work through different life challenges and life topics together in a continuum, with the support and encouragement of a safe and friendly atmosphere.”
The workshop will involve elements of discussion, activities, and group work while focusing on various topics that are prominent in the lives of the women and girls involved. Dr. Allen is certain that the event will bring about meaningful connections and perhaps even more life-changing will be the resources and tools she is excited to share as a piece of her own mission, as well as WPRC’s mission.
From working in DeForest schools and working within DeForest in other capacities, Dr. Allen knows how crucial it is to have opportunities like this close to home and not just offered in the City of Madison itself.
“I do a lot in my community, and I love my community,” said Dr. Allen, who served on the DeForest Village Board for a little over two years. “Working with girls in middle school and high school, there’s not a lot when you’re not in the city. This journey opportunity is also a way of providing another avenue for the women and the girls in our community to have another outlet, or have a space where they can really identify their needs, or even figure out what they need. Sometimes needs go unseen and unmet, because you don’t even know that they exist. They’re not really spoken. I definitely know that there are needs, and there is a need for space for women and girls to just be. Especially post-COVID.”
Dr. Allen highlighted the importance of mental health and addressing stress, especially after the isolating effects of COVID. Using “It’s Your Journey” as a means of reconnecting and re-establishing concepts of boundaries, socializing in community, and how to move forward speak to a universal need, but Dr. Allen’s passion about doing it at home first shows a deep commitment to her local community.
Besides just spreading awareness of the event and work of WPRC, Dr. Allen also wants people to know that there are other ways to support, as well, and she is always looking to connect with more community organizations. While Dr. Allen explained that monetary donations are always appreciated for the organizations, there are a multitude of ways to help spread the word and further the mission of supporting women and girls in our local communities.
One of the ways she looks to give back to community organizations through WPRC is through Purses With a Purpose.
“One of the biggest things that I do that is most near and dear to my heart is my Purse With a Purpose,” Dr. Allen explained in closing. “That’s gifting purses to nonprofits that are actively working with women. The goal is to send the message that I see you and you matter. Each purse that I give to a nonprofit has a handwritten card from me in there, to just solidify the message that they are so incredibly special, and they deserve all the services that are available. Sharing that to encourage those consistent donations means I can keep giving purses as long as I have air in my lungs, and the ability to move.”
Dr. Allen is certainly excited to keep building off of the work she does best, aside from her long and dedicated career in nursing, and providing space, connections, care, and resources for women and girls in her community.
To learn more about the “It’s Your Journey” event and to reserve a spot, visit the event page here.
