Dairrick Hodges was 12 years old when Maya Angelou predicted that he would become a powerful voice for those sidelined by misfortune.<\/p>\n
After winning a literary conference when he was in middle school \u2014 in which he wrote a creative response to one of Maya Angelou’s poems \u2014 Hodges was invited to attend a conference. Angelou served as one of the speakers at the event, and he was afforded a meet and greet.<\/p>\n Advised to arm himself with potent tools \u2014 \u201cpen and paper\u201d \u2014\u00a0 Angelou\u2019s \u201cmythical presence\u201d laid a prophetic foundation that Hodges did indeed fulfill. Today, the 30-year-old actor, musician, poet, writer, social activist and creative arts advocate from North Park works as a lighthouse for youth navigating the troubled waters of the foster care system.<\/p>\n Among a multitude of accomplishments, Hodges founded The SOULcial Workers, an eclectic blend of artists and innovators who use the \u201ctransformative power of the arts\u201d to facilitate a connection. Currently, he serves as SOULcial Workers\u2019 executive artistic director.<\/p>\n Programs and services, which are dedicated to social, educational, creative and emotional development, afford youth in vulnerable populations the opportunity to be \u201cseen, heard and ultimately be understood.\u201d<\/p>\n With a goal of building community, educators and entertainers spearhead platforms of inclusion such as music, dance, interactive theater and storytelling. \u201cEdutainment\u201d programs serve to \u201cdevelop awareness, leadership skills, emotional literacy, cognition and compassion to enhance the relationship between inner understanding and outward expression.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt-risk youth need a community of compassionate and invested people to walk them through obstacles,\u201d Hodges said. \u201cBuilding community is everything. As social artists, we\u2019re creators, innovators, activists, advocates and healers who believe in the transformative power of the arts. As artists, we have to the responsibility to influence positive change in our communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI vow to prevent senseless loss,\u201d he continued. \u201cI vow to ensure that no one is neglected or feels alone, limited by their differences and experiences or robbed of the opportunity to reach their full potential.\u201d<\/p>\n Hodges, a child of the foster care system, grew up in a world where dysfunction was the norm.<\/p>\n \u201cI never learned a language to identify or regulate my emotions,\u201d he said. \u201cI never understood how traumatic experiences impacted my ability to function in school, build relationships and establish safety in any environment.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Hodges, artistic self-expression enabled him to survive.<\/p>\n \u201cI explored artistry which fostered my talents and helped to establish a self-identity,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause I never felt supported or understood, art offered healing, community and the power to endure uncontrollable circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n At age 8, Hodges was removed from a home riddled with addiction, mental illness, neglect and abuse. Upon the subsequent suicide of his mother and the death of his grandmother, the foster care system became his home. Life as a foster child was punctuated by isolation and instability.<\/p>\n Bouncing around group homes \u2014 \u201cwherever they could find me a bed\u201d \u2014 coincided with bouncing around schools. Hodges described life as chaotic, sad and scary. Depression and anxiety attacks became common.<\/p>\n \u201c[I never knew if] today was the day my bags would be packed and waiting for me at the door,\u201d Hodges said, adding that he avoided bonding with classmates, fearful that he\u2019d never see them again.<\/p>\n \u201cI shut down,\u201d he explained. \u201cI never became attached because I never knew when I would have to say goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n Completely blind to the why and when of his chronic displacement, one evening he joined his foster family for a dinner out. Sadly, he was driven to a group home. His bags had been delivered earlier that afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt unloved and unwanted,\u201d he said. \u201cI was constantly told that something was wrong with me. I was constantly reminded that no one wanted me.\u201d<\/p>\n While attending Valencia Park School, Hodges participated in the Scholastic Book Fair, which was a big deal for him. Working diligently to sell books for prizes, he asked his then-foster parents to house him long enough to complete the fair and collect his prize. They failed to oblige.<\/p>\n \u201cI was shuffled because I was heavy and deemed unhealthy,\u201d he said. \u201cI required meds and therapy. I just caused too much fuss.\u201d<\/p>\n Parentless, he became the poster child for fosters noting, \u201csomething was wrong with the kid who didn\u2019t belong to anyone.\u201d Feeling stigmatized as \u201cbad,\u201d he became severely depressed.<\/p>\n \u201cI became fatter and quieter,\u201d he said. \u201cI stopped talking. I didn\u2019t participate in activities. I refused to speak to social workers. I said nothing during therapy. I stayed quiet in class. I disliked myself a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Distant, bowlegged and overweight, Hodges became an easy target for bullies. Physically beaten, he often hid in an auditorium.<\/p>\n Serendipitously one afternoon during play practice, an astute teacher invited the frightened third-grader to join the performance. Hodges accepted and for the first time, he said he looked at himself differently.<\/p>\n After that, Hodges said he emerged as the \u201cfat weird kid with talent,\u201d which helped him feel more socially accepted. Transferred to the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) by the fifth grade, Hodges realized that fighting and working the system were requirements to remain at SCPA, the school of his choice.<\/p>\n \u201cI petitioned the courts to stay at SCPA despite juggling through several homes,\u201d he said. \u201cChallenged but determined, I reshaped my thinking to get what I wanted. The process of exercising my voice taught me advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyers and social workers also petitioned on his behalf, identifying the arts as a positive influence.<\/p>\n Hodges became a youth advocate against a system he deemed unfairly ran around him. He served on school conference panels as a voice for those who were lost in the system, never fearing the words, \u201cthis is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI counseled my peers to address the issues of what was and wasn\u2019t working with a plan to resolve the issues that didn\u2019t work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Despite his impressive imprint, Hodges aged out of the foster care system and became homeless. The teenager never received counseling for transitional housing or directives for applying for a job.<\/p>\n Management at his first paying gig, the San Diego Center for Children, never knew he was homeless. Hodges began researching avenues for a healthy \u2014 and safe \u2014\u00a0 transition.<\/p>\n Humbled by homelessness, he once again transformed his life experiences into a platform for helping others. Today, he works on the frontline, combing the streets searching for kids who need a community advocate for emancipation.<\/p>\n Dedicated to helping system kids find a happier place, Hodges highlighted the importance of the arts as a window that separates at-risk from \u201cwhat\u2019s happening in their world.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Hodges, loneliness and disconnection become by-products of surviving extreme levels of trauma and adverse circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cSilenced by shame, creative outlets are opportunities to express emotion,\u201d he said. \u201cArtists inspire and influence. Artists connect community by creating change. I can’t think of a better place to invest our aspirations for a better world than in our youth. After all, this world belongs to them.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that disadvantaged youth often present a spectrum of behaviors that include substance abuse and suicide, the second-leading cause of death among youth in the U.S.<\/p>\n Hodges described his work as a mentor as vindication. By \u201cconnecting to the lonely, roaming street kid,\u201d he works through his unfinished life experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t take homelessness out of my childhood, but I can ensure other kids don\u2019t have to go through what I did,\u201d he said. \u201cI can fill in the gaps and be the intersections. Today, I am 100 percent of the person I needed to be to heal. I work every day with purpose. I\u2019m the cool artist with blue hair. Standing out is OK. Kids connect. I like that.\u201d<\/p>\n As the face of several San Diego Junior League programs, Hodges received The Spirit of Community Award at their latest annual gala. Despite feeling like \u201cCinderella at the ball,\u201d he said he \u201cheld back tears while sweating bullets.\u201d<\/p>\n The gala event was touted as a dream once \u201cscribbled on notes crumpled in frustration.\u201d Where he once questioned if he would ever make a difference, Hodges now reflects that the acknowledgment of his work is humbling.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up neither belonging or mattering to anyone,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone expected me to fail as a dysfunctional kid who wouldn\u2019t do anything with his life. The award was among many full-circle moments.\u201d<\/p>\n The honoree described The San Diego Junior League an amazing organization, sporting \u201cwomen with incredible hearts and souls\u201d who transform community concern into collaborative action.<\/p>\n Hodges continues to remain active in all things that serve at-risk youth. While caught up in the whirlwind that is his life, he said he realizes how lucky he was to have met Maya Angelou.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to tattoo her fingerprints where she touched my skin,\u201d he said. \u201cMaya Angelou influenced the man I’ve become, planting seeds that are still rooted.\u201d<\/p>\n With no intention of slowing down, Hodges continues to build upon The SOULcial Workers while contracted as the creative arts facilitator for Project AWARE, which is a program that teaches healthy relationships and emotional literacy at The San Diego Center for Children.<\/p>\n Angelou\u2019s iconic poem, \u201cStill I Rise,\u201d remains a favorite daily reminder of his ongoing journey.<\/p>\n![\"Still](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/at-mike.jpg\")
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