Ideisha Bellamy

Hometown: Louisville

Education: Ideisha holds a Master of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Master of Arts in Political Science with a focus in Public Service from Indiana University.

Community Support: Ideisha has worked with Maryhurst, the Indiana University Southeast Chancellor's Advisory Board, the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc, the Burnett Avenue Baptist Church, the Louisville Central Community Center and Change Today, Change Tomorrow. She is a Bell Award Youth Service Honor Recipient with hundreds of hours contributed to Kosair Children's Hospital and the Kentucky Science Center.

Occupation: Ideisha is the former COO of Maryhurst and is currently self-employed.

Family: Ideisha is married to her husband, Theophilus, and has five children.

How was volunteerism encouraged in your family or community? From middle childhood, my parents helped me develop a love for serving our community. I was exposed to countless opportunities to volunteer and worked many volunteer roles for as many as 30 hours per week in the summer. This was truly rewarding work and led to my receiving a Bell Award for the donation of my time and talents. Over the years, I have worked to instill this same passion for giving to my five children and have been delighted to see them serve many hours as well. In addition, through a lifelong commitment to my sorority, a constant drive towards improving my community has taken root in my heart and within my family.

How does healthcare support a thriving community? Access to quality healthcare allows members of our community to commit to preventative care so that we can each engage in being our very best on a day-to-day basis. With a physically healthy community, we can evolve to focusing on those other needs in our community that can be addressed.

How can gratitude help heal you spiritually, physically and emotionally? Living a life of gratitude will help to heal you spiritually, physically and emotionally by guiding you to take steps that represent the best for yourself and your community. As you approach life with a spirit of gratitude, you are able to better see the wonderful blessings in your life and elevate those things. In addition, gratitude can drive you to making smarter choices about your health and wellbeing. As you immerse yourself in gratitude, you are able to experience joy and the wonder of joy is a tremendous motivator. We each want to live a life of joy and I truly believe that is possible through gratitude. Joy is better than happiness because it is not dependent upon circumstances. We can experience joy no matter the situation, and focusing on the things we are grateful for is the foundation of that joy.