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About Our Founder 

Working Towards a Better Tomorrow

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                                Rabbi Minister LaDonna Hudson-Blaylock D.D.

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LaDonna is the executive director of Goddesses Blessing Goddesses. In this role, LaDonna coordinates a team of professional staff and board members to provide services and programs the organization offers to veteran women, women, and families in need. She is a huge believer in advocating women's rights and supports the sustainability of the family foundation. Minister LaDonna was ordained as a minister in the United States on September 10th, 1996, and began her work within the community and with several churches in Cleveland as the elder/leader of the nonprofit Goddesses Blessing Goddesses. 

 Upon DNA and ancestor discovery, it was concluded that she has Benin, Togo, and Nigerian lineage whose ancestors practiced customs and traditions as Israelites in Igboland and throughout the world for centuries. She received her " Smicha,"  in 2017 while visiting and touring the African continent.

 

LaDonna is no stranger to charity work and understands families' basic struggles to maintain a decent life for themselves and their children. She was a single parent of two daughters, and a niece and believes education is the key to a better life.  She grew up in the early ’50s and was introduced to the Christian life through her grandmother Apostle Lois B. Price of Omaha, Nebraska, whom she would visit during Summer vacations. “She taught me everything about the love for God and helping people.” Says LaDonna. “She was a saint., today I’m a Rabbi with credentials as an ordained minister and a divine divinity; who would have imagined the journey I have been on?” She adds.  "My work is just beginning, I must empower people as to who they are." "I have returned, "Muuka Gwaba!"

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The subsequent passing of her youngest daughter, Arisa, in 2007 made her also realize how illnesses and certain traumas can affect the overall wholeness of people and that the limitations of the current systems in place were not helping people long-term. Developing a nonprofit, and helping the underserved has become her life mission. The reality of eleven women losing their lives at the murderous hands of Anthony Sowell of Imperial Avenue in 2009 and demanding the house be razed, or the fact that there were only 2 beds for disabled veteran women among the 16 available at the V.A.’s Women Domiciliary, reflects that GBG’s mission to empower women through enlightenment is a much-needed call for women to take their sacred position as leaders in their families as well as in their communities.

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LaDonna is always eager to work with veteran women and women in the local community who are going through transitions in their lives. Through this experience, she has facilitated and implemented programs and activities of support where she would work one-on-one to help clients meet and exceed their expectations and reach their full potential. For LaDonna, it is an honor to be a small part of helping a woman’s life change for the better. When it pertains to women’s health, we tend to focus on the physical aspect to make a difference in becoming not only whole but should also include the mental, spiritual, and emotional components. 

 Through enlightenment, empowering women means providing resources, education, and support where both individuals and an entire family need it the most.

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We still advocate on their behalf

 Imperial Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, was once home to a tragic and gruesome series of murders between 2007 and 2009. Eleven women were found dead, all strangled, and their bodies abandoned in and around the home of murderous hands.

The case came to light in 2009 when the first two bodies were discovered and eventually led to the arrest of a resident, Anthony Sowell, who was charged and convicted of multiple counts of murder and assault. We still advocate on their behalf.

The Imperial Avenue murders sent shockwaves through the Cleveland community and brought harsh light to the shortcomings of local law enforcement in handling missing persons. The victims' families had been searching for their loved ones for months, but their pleas for help had gone unanswered. We still advocate on their behalf.

The senseless act on Imperial Avenue highlights the devastating consequences of systemic neglect. It serves as a haunting reminder of the importance of advocating, especially for marginalized and at-risk people, regardless of race, gender, creed, or religion. The case also underscores the need for ongoing efforts to improve missing person investigations and to bring justice to the victims and their families.

The bodies of the 11 victims found in and around Sowell's home were Tonia Carmichael, Tishana Culver, Michelle Mason, Kim Yvette Smith, Diane Turner, Leshanda Long, Nancy Cobbs, Janice Webb, Telacia Fortson, Crystal Dozier, Amelda Hunter

Sowell was convicted on 83 counts, including murder and kidnapping, and sentenced to death in 2011. As GBG members and for this community, we will continue to advocate on their behalf.

The tragedy of Imperial Avenue has had a lasting impact on the Cleveland community, where residents continue to grapple with the memory of the murdered women and the senseless violence in their neighborhood. It also highlights the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and the systemic failures that often prevent justice from being served in such cases. It has had a lasting impact on this community, and it's time to move into a place of healing and revitalization.

In conclusion, the story of Imperial Avenue is a reminder of the ongoing struggle to end violence against communities, women, and children.

We still advocate on their behalf.

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Join us in our vision to restore this community in 2023! We need your help.

Contact us for more details at admin@goddessesblessinggoddesses. org. 

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