Thema Campbell grew up in her Mama Hattie’s home with dozens of other children in rural Georgia. Some were family, some were friends and some were strangers, but they all had a place in Mama Hattie’s house.
“She had a strict hand when it came to discipline, but she could heal you if you got sick,” Campbell said, speaking of her grandmother, Hattie Skinner Bacon, a wet nurse for white families.
Campbell moved to Miami in 1976 and is now dedicated to improving the lives of girls in Miami-Dade County. She is the founder and CEO of Girl Power Rocks, which she founded in 2000.
Girl Power Rocks has several programs dedicated to educating and empowering what Campbell calls “at-promise girls.”
“I’m talking about the girls we used to call ‘in danger,’ and we want to change that because these girls promise a lot,” she said. “They are so smart and brilliant. And they are resilient and persistent, funny and beautiful.”
Girl Power begins working with high school girls with after-school programs at Frank C. Martin, Brownsville and Homestead high schools. The nonprofit also runs a choir for girls ages 11 to 17, a Sister Circle mentorship program that pairs girls with a mentor over the age of 21, and a free summer STEAM training camp for high school students.
Campbell also started a program for first-time offenders called Girls Intervention Program Plus after realizing that these girls, ages 13 to 17, were dealing with traumatic issues that were leading them down a “path to destruction.”
“Girls were arrested, and when they were arrested, we wouldn’t see them. They would disappear from our programs,” she said.
The goal of the program, which Campbell created in 2012, is to divert young girls away from the juvenile justice system and onto the right track. The program also helps girls who are vulnerable to human trafficking.
The program was originally designed for twelve weeks, but Campbell advocated for girls to stay for as long as necessary.
“Sometimes you don’t see even the slightest change for a whole year,” says Campbell.
More than 400 girls have completed the program with a 98% completion rate. And 100% of enrolled girls were not rearrested during the program year.
At graduation, graduates wear pink caps and gowns and give a speech. Campbell says graduations are emotional for the entire staff “because they have formed a bond with each other and it is like a family.”
Every day after school, the girls are picked up by a van and taken to the Culmer Community Action Center in Overtown, where they receive snacks, do their homework, listen to guest speakers and participate in “Girl Circle,” designed for girls who experience trauma.
Kayla, 16, has been participating in the program for almost two years.
“Before I got into Girl Power, it was horrible…I had serious anger issues,” Kayla said. “When I joined, I realized I had to stop doing that and be a better example for my sister.”
Kayla dreams of going to college and becoming a flight attendant, but also says she is interested in hair.
Next to her was 14-year-old Asanté, who joked that she booked her hair appointment with Kayla months ago but still hadn’t gotten her hair done. Asanté said she hopes to go to college and has considered multiple careers, including a travel nurse, singer and writer.
“When I first knew school existed, my first word was probably university,” Asanté said.
Campbell recalled how a girl on the program didn’t say a single word to her. She tried for a year to get the girl to say goodbye.
“She was silent, her trauma and her abuse, that’s how she dealt with it. She just didn’t open her mouth to say anything. Because when she had done that in the past, she felt like her outspokenness had caused the trauma that had happened to her,” Campbell said.
When the girl finally said goodbye to her after a year, Campbell knew it was an important step.
“That’s what that program is for, it’s a safe space for them to be able to find their voice and learn to stand up for themselves and stand up for themselves,” Campbell said.
Campbell is working to bring Mama Hattie’s House to Miami by creating living spaces for girls aging out of the foster care system and at greater risk of human trafficking.
Casa Valentina, another Miami-based nonprofit, also helps girls who have aged out of foster care live independent lives, through education and mentoring.
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Florida ranks third in the U.S. for sex trafficking, with more than 70% of victims located in Miami-Dade. And according to the Human Trafficking Hotline, 60% of sex trafficking victims are involved in the foster care system in some way.
Girl Power Rocks is raising money to reach the $25 million goal to build Mama Hattie’s House. Initial designs show a five-story, 450,000-square-foot facility in Overtown, with construction set to begin in 2025. They have secured $11.5 million in pledges and grants to date.
“We are a rich country, so girls shouldn’t be in a position where they don’t have everything they need to reach their full potential and bring greatness to these communities. “I want people to know that when you invest in a girl and you invest in a girl’s education, you’re not just investing in that girl, you’re investing in her community, you’re investing in her family,” Campbell said.
How to help
To donate or support Girl Power Rocks, visit here.
To donate or support the creation of Mama Hattie’s House, visit here.
