Shernetta bouier-blue, VISIONARY & Founder

From pain to purpose, Shernetta Bouier-Blue knows what it means to live and not just exist. Migrating from Birmingham Alabama, my mother was literally dropped in the middle of nowhere making it somewhere; broken from birth is where my story begins.

Like many I thought growing up in a two parent home and coming from humble beginnings was ideal, however their brokenness and lack of nurturing inevitably gave me the strong will to survive. During the time my parents divorced my mother turned to drugs, alcohol and men; which grew me up quickly. Seeing my mom used and abused mentally, physically and emotionally took a toll on me. Her boyfriend at the time would get drunk every Friday and the abuse would begin. Our lifestyle consisted of packing quickly in black trash bags. My father emotionally unattached never became aware of my struggle. My father was solely a provider which made me a Daddy Less Daughter and having me look for my dad in other men.

At the age of 16 I became pregnant by a man seven years my senior; he lied telling me he was 18. He disappeared in fear of being charged of statutory rape. This left me broken and confused. My mother saw my child as an opportunity for financial gain. I received seventy-five dollars a month from my dad’s disability check and if I didn’t want to give her the check she would say, “If you don’t like it, get out. This caused me to drop out of school for the first three months of my daughter’s life. My father got word that I wasn’t going to school, he took me and my daughter to live with him.

Six months later I’m pregnant again, my dad was angry, disappointed and embarrassed, and he stated, “No more babies are coming here.” As a result, he made me leave my second daughter at the hospital to be put up for adoption. She stayed at the hospital for two weeks until my aunt made him go get her. I found myself being 19 years old with not one, but two children. I looked for my father in both of my children’s father, and yet that ended in a dead end. Despite many obstacles I am a proud graduated of Normandy High School. 

Time and time again I saw dysfunctional relationships as normal and yet again I found myself picking an abusive man just as my mother did. This particular relationship lasted five years and to talk about betrayal he was also a heroin addict. His mother was my savior, [Julia Barnes-Gillespie] she taught me woman habits and believed in me. She gave me the forty- five dollars to take the nursing exam; under one condition, once I passed the test, I could never look back. The day of my exam I was bloody, bruised and busted from yet another domestic dispute, but I was determined and didn’t know it but God had favor on my life. I received the results indicating that I passed my test two weeks later and that toxic relationship ended that day.

Being bitter and angry from all the endured hurt and rejection, I had a problem with authority on my jobs and was verbally disrespectful to my superiors. I went from job to job after completing nursing school and one year found myself having over thirteen w2’s. One day an older lady, [Ersene Wright-Thomas] observed my behavior and gave me the tough love that I needed to be a better person. She advised me that I needed to change. She was a mother, counselor and confidant that led me to God.

Although I was being mentored in woman habits I didn’t know how unhealthy I was. I went from man to man looking for love and money; not knowing how a man was supposed to treat me because I had never seen a woman treated in a healthy manner. I met a man that swept me off my feet “I thought” however I attracted just what I was “broken.” In an unhealthy marriage, going from being abused to being the abuser and having to have control and be the head, until one day my husband told me that I needed help. It was at that time that I received counseling and my new life began.

Today I stand bent not broken, a mentor because that’s what changed my life. I am a woman of God, being fed by a servant of God Pastor F. J, Clark, Founder and Visionary of Shalom City of Peace for 13 years. Also, a PROUD Graduate of Normandy High school. Knowing what healthy looks like; a wife by the grace of God, a mother by calling, daughter, taking care of my paralyzed father, a nurse by trade and now healed.