A 74-year-old grandmother has turned her home into a safe haven for the forgotten children of the crippled community of Watts.
Millicent Hill, who goes by Mama, is a retired Los Angeles school teacher who made it her life’s mission to save inner-city children from violence.
Mama Hill spent four decades in the LA public school system. When she realized she’d lost 2,000 kids to gang violence over the course of her career, she decided to start an afterschool program to try and save as many as she could: educating them, feeding them and teaching life skills.
“They need the love and respect of being treated like a human being and talked to like they’re intelligent,” she said.
One of the kids Mama Hill is helping is Ronnell Young. The 19-year-old used to wreak havoc and vandalize property in the neighborhood.
Then, three years ago, Ronnell was shot 5 times while standing in front of his friend Marshell Warren’s house. She dragged his body to safety and held his head as they waited for the ambulance.
“I just remember him telling us don’t let him die," Warren said.
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After Ronnell recovered, Warren introduced him to Mama Hill.
“I thought she would be able to offer him emotional stability because after he got shot he was so bitter,” she said.
Ronnell has come a long way, and in turn, introduced Hill to one of his friends, Robert Williamson, a former foster kid who's served time in juvenile hall.
The young men say mentoring younger kids at Mama’s house has given them purpose -- and that Mama has given them something they haven’t seen much of in their lives: love.
“She is a second mom, a home away from home. If I have nowhere to go I always have Mama Hill,” Young said.
Mama Hill’s non-profit organization is always struggling to pay the bills. If you’d like to donate to the program, or volunteer as a mentor, click here: mamahillshelp.org.
