The Reverend Ericka N. Bailey

The Reverend Ericka Bailey is an author, national speaker and founder of I Survived Ministries, an organization whose purpose is to inspire others to live by faith and hope in spite of adversity while focusing on the importance in understanding the complexities of mental illness, depression and domestic violence.  As a survivor herself, Rev. Bailey has made it her mission to educate others, provide resources and share her own personal testimony to encourage those along their journey toward survivorship.

Rev. Bailey has collaborated with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) serving as a Lead Presenter for Ending the Silence, a national mental health education program for high school students, based on real life experiences. Rev. Bailey has also served as a panelist for the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and Chicago Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and has spoken throughout Chicago Public Schools and various universities sharing her personal testimony, which includes a history of childhood abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, and living with depression and anxiety. Her story further highlights components of her recovery and continued efforts to increase awareness, promoting healthy body, mind, and heathy relationships with an attitude to survive regardless of your situation or circumstances. Currently, Rev. Bailey serves as a member of the Board of Directors for NAMI in Will Grundy County.

While Rev. Bailey firmly holds that true ministry is lived outside of the church’s four walls and she strives to make a difference in the lives of all she meets.  As an author, her book, I SURVIVED, has become a tool of inspiration catapulting the message of ending the silence and promoting survivorship far beyond the community she serves.

Rev. Bailey is a graduate Western Illinois University, wife of Pastor James C. Bailey of St. Stephen A.M.E. Church in Chicago, IL, a mother of four adult children and has one grandson. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She is active in addressing social issues within the community and works diligently to uphold the standards of this most illustrious public service sorority.

She strives to live by the scripture “to whom much is given, much is required”.