---
title: "Always Care for Yourself: Jo Ell East"
date: 2009-04-09T16:48:50-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/always-care-for-yourself-jo-ell-east"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
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[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# Always Care for Yourself: Jo Ell East

By Our Bodies Ourselves • April 9, 2009

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

*From 2009 - 2011, Our Bodies Ourselves honored the work of women's health advocates worldwide by asking readers to nominate their favorite women's health hero. View all nominees by year: [2009](/category/our-bodies-ourselves/womens-health-heroes-2009/), [2010](/category/our-bodies-ourselves/womens-health-heroes-2010/), [2011](/category/our-bodies-ourselves/womens-health-heroes-2011/)*  
  
**Entrant:** Brittney  
  
**Nominee:** Jo Ell East  
  
  
  
My Mommy will always be my health hero. In more ways than one, she showed me, my sister and all my girl friends what it is like to be a healthy, sexually active and health conscious woman. I will never be ashamed of my body, and always care for my health because that's the way my Mommy taught me to be.  
  
  
  
She is a survivor of DV [domestic violence], the verbal and physical kind, and never never NEVER let that stop her from living or raising my sister and me in a safe (away from him) loving, body affirming home.  
  
  
  
More then once she has taught and still teaches the women around us it is all right and perfectly healthy to be single, sexually open, healthy and safe from DV!  
  
  
  
I'm going all teary eyed now...Thanks Mommy.

---

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