If there are two things that Rosemary Fordjour can point to that stood out most to her growing up in Ghana, they are the sense of community and safety she felt. 

She recalls the many times she walked to and from school with her friends, the countless conversations, and the love for nature she developed during her childhood. 

Her mentality growing up was always, “The world is beautiful, and I cannot wait to explore it,” she said. 

At 16, Ms. Fordjour got a taste of the world outside of her comfort zone in Ghana when she relocated to New York City along with her mother and older brother.

“It was a different culture that I was coming into, and I was a teenager,” said Ms. Fordjour. “Often during the teenage years, that’s when you find your own identity.”

The first few years proved quite challenging.

She was exploring her identity in a new environment, while also trying to maintain the customs that she was already familiar with.

While challenging, she was able to eventually find her way.

After high school, Ms. Fordjour decided to pursue her higher education with an eye toward business.

Harkening back to her time in Ghana, when she was in secondary school learning business, Fordjour’s intention was to go to business school after graduation.

Eventually, she attended and graduated from Katharine Gibbs School and earned her associate degree in business administration.

Her first job out of college was with the New York Life Insurance Agency. However, after nearly a year of selling insurance, Ms. Fordjour realized this was not something she foresaw herself doing for a long time.

“I realized that was not for me. And I wanted to really understand myself and figure out what my passion is,” she said.

From there, she started doing research and eventually came across nursing as an avenue she wanted to pursue. 

Upon beginning her nursing career, Ms. Fordjour initially ended up in cardiology.

She went through various specialties but felt especially impassioned when seeing the significance of emotional and mental health in connection to physical health.

“I used to get clients coming in after having a heart attack, wounded cardiac surgery… and I always saw there was something else going on,” said Ms. Fordjour.

Cardiac episodes can sometimes lead to sadness, anxiety, and depression, and naturally, Fordjour wanted to connect with her patients in a more empathetic fashion.

This sparked a desire to pursue the mental health track, and she did that when pursuing her master’s degree at Hunter College, where she earned a master’s in psychiatric mental health.

“And that was the start of a great journey,” said Ms. Fordjour.

Shortly after graduating, she earned a job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Institute for Family Health, which really helped her fortify her goals.

“It set the foundation for how I wanted to see my practice, my views on mental health, providing mental health care for underserved populations, and making sure that there was equity in how I provided my care,” she said.

After a few years with the nonprofit, and over a decade in the field, Ms. Fordjour started to explore the idea of working for herself. 

Months later, the pandemic happened.

“Once the pandemic hit, I thought it was actually the ideal time to set out on the journey of being an owner and running my own organization,” Ms. Fordjour said.

Patients were coming in, sharing how the pandemic was negatively affecting them, and Ms. Fordjour wanted to help. 

Fast forward to August 2020, and Ms. Fordjour officially launched ROW Psychiatric Services, a psychiatry practice that serves children, adolescents and adults seeking to improve and maintain their mental and emotional well-being. 

With the focus on equity and prevention, ROW proudly accepts CHIP, Medical Assistance, CCBH, Health Partners, and most major insurances, which was an especially important aspect to her.

“My mission has always been to serve the underserved population,” said Ms. Fordjour.

“If we were going to be a viable organization and actually do what we need, we needed to have our services be accessible to all kinds of individuals, regardless of what kind of medical insurance that they have,” she added. 

At ROW, Ms. Fordjour and her team investigate the root cause of the emotional instabilities that impact their patients and utilize a patient-centered approach that aims to help each of them create a stable foundation for their healing. 

When Ms. Fordjour thinks about the work she does on a daily basis, she thinks about her own personal experiences and challenges she faced growing up.

While she didn’t always have access to the resources needed to help get through those challenging times, it’s her goal to be that for others, especially for young people.

“It brings me joy to be able to provide a solid foundation because I know how important it is to have a strong foundation when growing up,” she said. 

Learn more about how this Malvern-based psychiatry company serves underserved communities at ROW Psychiatric Services.