Honoring the Women Who Never Left Watts Behind

I remember the day I saw the mural; it was raining. I was visiting locol in Watts, just moving through the neighborhood, and then I looked up… and there they were, painted across the wall right there on 103rd & Anzac Ave, across from Florence Griffith Joyner elementary school, were the faces of women who built this community.

Women I’ve heard about, women I’ve seen, women who have poured into Watts in ways that can’t always be measured. In that moment, it felt like a reminder that this work didn’t start with me. Long before programs, funding, or formal systems, there were women showing up, holding people together, and creating care out of whatever they had. Standing there in the rain, taking it all in, I was almost in tears because you could feel it: the legacy, the love, the weight of everything they carried and everything they built.

Watts has always been held together by women whose names you may not find in history books, but whose impact you can feel on every block. These are women who showed up, filled gaps, and made sure their community survived no matter what. You cannot talk about Watts without talking about the women who held it together.

If you walk through Watts, you’ll see them. Not just in memory, but on the walls.

Murals honoring women like Betty Day, Ms. Dot, Kathy Wooten, Maudine Clark, and Sweet Alice Harris remind us that legacy lives here. These women were more than community members; they were anchors. Caregivers. Advocates. Leaders.

They didn’t wait for permission to lead. They didn’t wait for funding to care. They didn’t wait for systems to work. They became what the community needed.

They were a safe place. The connector. The one who made sure nobody went without.

That is what legacy looks like in Watts. It is visible and present.

The women honored in this mural each represent a legacy of service, leadership, and deep community care in Watts. Betty Day has long been recognized as a dedicated community advocate, known for her involvement in local efforts that support families and neighborhood stability. Ms. Dot, Dorothy, is remembered as a trusted and consistent presence, someone who showed up for people, offering guidance, connection, and care across generations. Maudine Clark is honored as a community matriarch, someone whose wisdom, presence, and care helped anchor those around her. And Sweet Alice Harris, founder of Parents of Watts, is widely celebrated for decades of advocacy, providing food, shelter, education, and life-changing resources to families across Watts. Through Parents of Watts, she built a network of programs supporting youth, families, and individuals experiencing homelessness, substance recovery, and reentry, creating a model of community care that continues to serve thousands today.

Kathy Wooten, who I had the honor of knowing personally, embodied what it means to turn pain into purpose. After losing two of her sons to gang violence, she founded Loving Hands Community Care, a community-based organization dedicated to supporting families grieving the loss of a child. Through healing circles, retreats, and ongoing support, she created spaces where mothers and families could come together in their grief without feeling alone. Long before many of us had language for trauma-informed care or nervous system regulation, Kathy was doing that work. She helped people feel safe enough to process, to breathe, and to keep going.

That work continues through Loving Hands’ annual Mother’s Day Healing Luncheon, a sacred space created for mothers who have lost children, transforming what can be one of the most painful days of the year into a moment of remembrance, connection, and collective healing.

This month, we also witnessed a powerful milestone. I had the privilege to attend the 10-year anniversary of Sisters of Watts first Annual Gala. For a decade, Sisters of Watts has continued to create community care, and during Women's History Month, they celebrate a milestone, 10 years in the community of Watts. Keisha and Robin Daniels, sisters born and raised in Watts, have worked tirelessly in the community to provide tangible support. Over the past decade, they have been recognized by institutions such as the NFL and the Super Bowl LVI Committee, honored as community leaders, and many features in publications for their impact across Los Angeles. But more than recognition, what defines Sisters of Watts is their commitment to staying connected to the people, never leaving, never disconnecting, and always showing up for the families who need them most.

Through boots-on-the-ground, hands-on service, Sisters of Watts has built trust by meeting immediate and ongoing needs in real time. From food distributions, clothing drives, and school supply giveaways to youth programming, family events, and support for unhoused individuals, survivors of domestic violence, and returning citizens, their work spans both prevention and response. They have created spaces for families to gather and access resources, including a community “safe house” that offers food, homework support, and essential services.  What they have built is more than programming, it is a model of what community care looks like when it is led by the people, for the people.

At Voices of Impact, this is the legacy we carry forward. We exist because of women like those honored in our community. Women who stepped in when systems didn’t, who created care where there were gaps, and who made sure no one was left behind.

Today, we build on that foundation by supporting families, specifically parents and guardians living with disabilities and chronic health conditions, and ensuring their children have access to the resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive.

Because we understand something deeply. When caregivers are supported, children are supported. And when families are supported, communities are strengthened.

Many of the challenges families in Watts face today, navigating healthcare, accessing resources, and managing daily life with limited support, are not new. The women we honor in our community were already addressing these challenges long before systems were designed to respond to them. They built informal networks of care. They shared resources. They showed up.

There’s something else these women understood, even if they didn’t have the language for it at the time. They understood how to help people feel safe. They knew how to calm a room. How to sit with someone in pain. How to bring people back to themselves in the middle of chaos. Today, we call that nervous system regulation.

At Voices of Impact, we carry that forward through the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)—an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach that teaches individuals how to understand and regulate their nervous systems.

Because in communities like Watts, stress isn’t just an individual experience. It’s something families carry, navigate, and move through together.

CRM gives people practical tools to:

• Ground themselves in moments of overwhelm

• Build resilience in the face of ongoing stress

• Support their children, families, and communities more effectively

  
  

This is not abstract work. It is everyday survival turned into sustainable healing.

And in many ways, it is a continuation of what the women of Watts have always done, helping people find their footing, their strength, and their sense of safety.

If you are interested in bringing this work to your organization, school, or community, we invite you to learn more about our trainings and workshops.

Learn more about our here: training