Today we’d like to introduce you to Ernestine Hopkins.
Ernestine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Born and raised in Fort Worth, TX, I’ve had a love for literature and helping people ever since I was a young girl. I would spend hours in my room, lost in different books from different genres, fantasizing that I was one of the characters. Because of this, it was no surprise that I became a middle school English Language Arts teacher.
While teaching, quite a few of my students opened up to me and told me that they had experienced one or more of the following things:
-Low self-esteem
-Abuse
-Depression
-One or more parents in prison
-Gangs
-Drug abuse
-Broken home
I related to them because as a teenager, I too experienced low self-esteem, depression, abuse, and a broken home. My experiences with these students inspired me to write a short fiction novel titled Saving Myself From Me and to start a company called Hope Speaks Life. Through my book, I wanted my readers to know that everyone goes through things, but they can still become great, overcome adversities, and save themselves from their negative thoughts.
The next school year, I had the privilege of creating a curriculum to accompany my book that was used at Metzger Middle School in San Antonio, TX. With Naderia Hartley, the school counselor, I facilitated small group sessions with the 8th-grade girls. We would later call these sessions, Girls Who Conquer (GWC). During GWC, we would read my book and do the awesome activities in my curriculum.
These activities promoted better decision-making skills, leadership, overcoming low self-esteem, the power of positive thinking, and forgiveness, to name a few. We saw so much success with this program that Naderia and I decided to make Girls Who Conquer a conference. The 1st annual conference is scheduled for August 2019. We are currently in the fundraising stages and were blessed to be able to record testimonial videos of a former participant and her mother.
My goals are to be able to offer this conference in the Fort Worth/Dallas area and to make Saving Myself From Me into a movie so that it can reach and inspire more people to be the best version of themselves!
Founders Video:
Parent Testimonial
Former Participant Testimonial Video
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Working at the school where I was inspired to write the book was quite difficult. It was hard to see so many broken children. That weighed on me quite a bit. The main struggle I’ve experienced along the way is the fundraising process. We are relying on the assistance of the community to help fund the Girls Who Conquer conference and obtain the funds to pay for our nonprofit status, but it will happen!
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Hope Speaks Life is an organization that empowers teens and adults not to let their negative thoughts, past experiences, and current circumstances stunt their growth as individuals. They will learn how to let hope speak in their lives and build the courage to fight for their success in every facet of their life by never giving up!
I am most proud of the fact that over 350 students have been affected by Hope Speaks Life through my book and the curriculum that I created. What sets me apart is the lives that we’ve had the privilege of changing and the fact that what I’m teaching actually worked for me as well.
Girls Who Conquer is an annual conference that promotes better decision-making skills, leadership, overcoming low self-esteem, the power of positive thinking, and forgiveness, to name a few.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by results. In my program, I conduct both a pre-assessment and a post-assessment so that I can measure the change in each participant’s life. I also define success as fighting for your future and never giving up.
Pricing:
- Saving Myself From Me $9.99 plus tax
- Hope Eternity Curriculum $100.00
Contact Info:
- Website: http://ernestinehopkins.wixsite.com/hope-speaks-life
- Email: hopespeakslife@gmail.com; girlswhoconquer@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ernestinehopkins/; https://www.facebook.com/girlswhoconquer/
Image Credit:
Don Hopkins Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
