Fanus Woldegebriel is the author of Immigrant Mental Health, One Woman’s Spiritual Journey Towards Healing. She is also a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, mentor, Sunday School teacher, and friend to many. She is a passionate immigrant mental health enthusiast. Her personal battle with mental illness has been a lifelong experience and it’s just now that she has been able to contextualize everything she has endured into words. Writing her book has been a healing process for Fanus.

 

Born in a refugee camp in Khartoum, Sudan, Fanus immigrated to the United States as a refugee with her parents as an 18-month-old infant. Her family settled in the Uptown area of Chicago at a time when the area had other refugee families settling there from Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, to name a few. Uptown is known to be one of the most ethnically diverse areas of Chicago.

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Fanus grew up with classmates, friends, and neighbors from so many different countries that her first lessons on world geography, diversity and tolerance came from them! She absorbed their languages, cultural attire, traditions, and delicious food. From a very young age, Fanus has always been involved in her local community and church. She grew up in a tight-knit community that was filled with lots of love. This experience shaped her worldview, values, personality, and passion for community service.

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Fanus lived in Uptown until she went away to college to attend Northern Illinois University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. For the past eight years she enjoyed a rewarding career as a Corporate Immigrant specialist. Over the years she has worked for JPMorgan Chase, Sears Holdings Corporation and International Legal Business Services Group. With the launch of her book, she has embarked on her new journey as a first time Author and Certified Life Coach. Her new life mission is to help others embrace their mental health so they too can get to healing.