These Friends Launched A Non-Profit To Help Black Women Pay For Expensive Fibroid Treatments – Essence

When Khaleelah I. L. Harris reached the age when she had to get her own insurance, she saw what it actually costed to get reproductive health services, like the myomectomy she needed to get rid of her painful fibroids. The surgery called for thousands of dollars out of pocket and all of the treatments leading up to it costed hundreds.

As a visual art curator and entrepreneur, Harris was eventually able to secure a good insurance plan to cover the costs but she knew there were countless other women and people with uteruses that couldn’t.

“I just thought to myself, Oh, my goodness, what are people who are low income doing,” Harris tells ESSENCE. “What are people with uteruses who don’t have insurance doing to pay for this? Considering the numbers and how prevalent it is in our community. That was just at the back of my mind.”

Fibroids, which are non-cancerous tumors that usually show up around the uterus disproportionately affect Black women. The symptoms are often debilitating and include excessive bleeding, pain and abnormally swollen abdomens that mimic pregnant stomachs. The best recourse for most patients, the best recourse is surgical removal and a series of treatments that shrink them from the inside out. Either way, they’re expensive.

“As I moved closer and received my first first surgery date, the bill was $10,000 out of pocket,” Harris explains.

Because of this, Harris joined forces with her friend Yasmine Griffiths , a 4th year medical student at Howard University School of Medicine, to found The Beauty of Our Wellness, a DC-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by Black women dealing with uterine fibroids. According to the two Gen Zers, their mission is to provide financial assistance to medical bill-burdened individuals in need of fibroid treatment.

“When in medical school, we learned about fibroids, but seeing it firsthand with a friend really makes it feel more urgent,” Griffiths explains to ESSENCE.

Together, they decided to address the issue head on and form The Beauty of Our Wellness, a non-profit that provides rapid response $500 micro-grants to help offset costs associated with fibroid treatment. The friends said that although their long-term goals are to help further reproductive health support at a larger scale, they are aiming to tackle immediate challenges.

“I know first hand how much having fibroids can affect one’s life,” Harris said, whose largest mass grew to 5 x 7 x 7 inches, or the size of a small peach. “To have deal with everything that comes along with that on top of handling daily responsibilities is a lot for anyone to handle.”

The two recently held The Beauty of Our Wellness Awareness Luncheon & Fundraiser, which featured fine art pieces from the Wright Family Collection, presentations by Black women OBGYNs, and testimonies from former myomectomy patients.

“This feels like calling,” Griffiths said. “I think it’s necessary not just to have the conversations, but to make space for them to continue and have people who really have the expertise to talk about it. Then on top of that, really find a way to give support to people who can’t afford the many, many costly things that go into having a fibroid. When we come together to address this issue that touches so many of us, we can all help each other heal.”