I am one of six kids. Growing up in a community riddled with drugs, gangs, and violence, we overcame many obstacles. This resulted in many adverse childhood experiences. Some obstacles included foster care and lack of household financial security.
During elementary school, I excelled academically. I even delivered the sixth-grade graduation speech and received an academic excellence award. The next year in the seventh grade I was held back. Although I did well on standardized tests, I was not performing well in class and the teachers, without making a real effort to find out why, held me back. Then halfway through my second year of seventh grade, the school kicked me out and sent me to another school. Without a parental advocate, I decided to advocate for myself to be placed in the eighth grade. I’m aware that self-advocacy is something most kids that age would not do, nor do school administrators have to take their requests seriously, but my vice principal did.
fifty percent of students who experience foster care graduate from high school. Like the experiences my siblings and I had, many foster care students are not receiving the resources and support they need to succeed academically.
The health care infrastructure has also failed my family. Two of my siblings passed away as young adults. Mental illness claimed my brother’s life in 2007. He didn’t have any access to mental health resources.
Seeing and experiencing these outcomes firsthand has always motivated me to pursue a career in advocacy and advocate for policies that improve the academic, economic, and health outcomes for underserved and underrepresented communities.
My family’s experience has funneled my passion to pursue a career in the field of urban sustainability planning and continue advocating in my community. I want to collaborate in building infrastructure that is sustainable and provides access to resources that allow underserved and underrepresented communities to thrive in an equitable urban environment. These communities deserve to have resources that allow them to succeed in academics, economics, and health no matter their socioeconomic background. As a young advocate, I hope to influence these legislative conversations to address the outcomes experienced by my family and countless other families.
Ronnell Hampton is an urban sustainability planner, writer, and podcaster. He is the Founder of Growing Greatness, an organization dedicated to facilitating environmental and social justice through workshop development, diversity training, and small community development projects. He is a master’s graduate currently pursuing an architectural drafting and design professional certification. As a young advocate, he advocates for issues that affect young adults, underserved and underrepresented communities. He’s passionate about making a change.