Meet Jayla Baxter of SEQ HOPE Foundation and Tell Me Truth Group in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayla Baxter.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jayla. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was raised in the in the Bay Area of California. I moved back to Southern California after my mom got remarried and my life took a turn for the worst when my mom abandoned me at an airport at age 14 1/2. I found myself living with a relative who was not fond of my mother and made me pay rent which led me to prostitution. By day I was in honor classes and at night I was on the streets.

After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Communication Studies, I was still dealing with the trauma of my childhood and found myself homeless, sleeping in the trunk of my car on the Loyola campus. I attempted suicide shortly after and survived.

In my early twenties, I became a millionaire by selling a licensed “welfare-to-work” program to a government agency. I spent the next several years on the streets, rescuing sex-trafficked teens and offering them rehabilitation services to deal with their trauma. I soon realized that the one component missing from the teens I served was Emotional intelligence.

The SEQ HOPE Foundation teaches Emotional Intelligence to grossly underserved lower socio-economic communities around the country. We also go into Native American Reservations and teach suicide/depression prevention to youth ages 7-18. We believe that we can help change the trajectory of increased teen suicide rates by teaching teens how to successfully cope with the trials of life.

We work/partner with the LA County Department of Probation, multiple school districts, and other community organizations in California to provide viable solutions to teens who are suffering from self-mutilation, behavioral health issues, and the inability to solve everyday life issues.

Has it been a smooth road?
As a trainer, educator, and Energy Healer I used to find it difficult to help teens without being triggered of reminders from my past. I would often find myself debilitated after conducting workshops and I had to work on understanding the transference of energy from person to person and giving myself time after doing the work to decompress.

When the crowd you serve is depressed or have negative emotions and a negative mindset, you have to be very careful not to bond in misery; that is, to become miserable just to relate to the crowd you are looking to reach.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with SEQ HOPE Foundation / Tell Me Truth Group – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The SEQ HOPE Foundation is known for teaching Emotional Intelligence to youth & young adults. I am also the CEO of The Tell Me Truth Group, an interactive consulting company focused on partnering with government agencies, corporations, non-profit organizations, and media entities. We work to make sure that adults understand, have genuine empathy for, and know how to help youth with the issues that plague their everyday life. We provide curriculum and custom training for non-profit organizations, Fortune 100 companies, corporations, and government agencies.

I’m most proud that the work we do is extremely sensitive and we do not allow cameras inside our sessions. While others are looking for accolades from peers for the work done, we are specifically looking for results from the youth we serve. We know we are most successful when a young adult stops self-mutilating or when we thwart a group suicide pact in a community.

We are most proud that we do not participate in “poverty porn”, that is the parading around of the downtrodden for social accolade or public donations.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the mix of cultures; I dislike the endless traffic that now appears every day of the week.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3660 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 518
  Los Angeles, CA 90010
• Website: www.SEQHOPEFoundation.org
• Phone: 310-597-2512
• Email: info@seqhopefoundation.org
• Instagram: @SEQHOPEFoundation
• Facebook: SEQ Hope Foundation

Getting in touch: VoyageLA 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.