Meet Noella
A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Noella Kabongo has lived in the United States for the past 18 years. After graduating from from Texas Woman’s University in 2009 with a bachelor of science degree in nursing, she began working as a psychiatric nurse in one of the most fast-paced psychiatric hospitals in the DFW area, Green Oaks Psychiatric Hospital.
Currently, Noella works as a psychiatric nurse in a Dallas correctional institution while concurrently pursuing a master’s degree in psychiatry and mental health nursing. Her career goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. When not working as a psychiatric nurse, Noella fulfills her passion to help others in her Congolese community and in the greater DFW metroplex overcome not only psychological but social and physical barriers as well. Her greatest heart desire is to empower every person she encounters to live a full life, despite perceived limitations. Noella’s extensive background working as a psychiatric nurse has prepared her to serve as an advocate for the mentally ill. Her personal goal is to inspire others to raise awareness and take part in sharing information, resources and support for mental health conditions. To this end, she currently serves as a board member for the Comfort Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness of mental illness in the African community as well as suicide prevention. |
After surviving an abusive marriage, which ended in a painful divorce, Noella has regained her confidence and is now using her social media platform to raise awareness about violence against women in her Congolese community. Through her own personal experience, Noella has mobilized non traditional methods to educate her community on the effects of domestic violence and has positioned herself as an advocate armed with information and resources for those who are facing domestic abuse, silently.
Noella’s love for fashion, along with her passion to help others, led her to found Dee’Vine Kreations, which specializes in event decor, makeup artistry, and plus size clothing. Noella uses her business as a means to empower women to love themselves and to highlight their physical and inner beauty. She has dedicated her time and effort with the ultimate goal of helping women look and feel invincible. Noella’s work has been featured in Urban Mainstream Magazine, and on the first edition of the British magazine MIROR in London. She has also worked with some renowned local designers such as Shawn Florence of Paparazzi Couture and Oscar Fierro. Maya Angelou once said, “The real difficulty is is to overcome how you think about yourself.” Noella’s life long passion is to encourage young girls and women to find their purpose, regain their self-esteem and overcome the most difficult moments of their lives so that they can know themselves as peaceful, whole, safe and complete. |