ANAZ FELLOWSHIP
Meet Naomi
Naomi is the first recipient of the Anaz Fellowship, a holistic support program helping young people pursue education, training, and long-term opportunity through stability, mentorship, and critical resources.
Trigger Warning: The following includes mentions of sexual assault, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.
By the time I was eight years old, my parents had divorced. My father was struggling with addiction, while my mother fell into a deep depression and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From there, my sisters’ lives and mine became increasingly unstable. We spent much of our time on the run, often sleeping with our shoes on. While my mother had custody, we were frequently staying with our grandparents. Times were so difficult that I remember my grandfather stepping in and confronting my father, but the instability never fully went away.
Things shifted in high school when I began dating my first girlfriend. It was a part of me I kept hidden out of fear, but rumors quickly spread. Without speaking to me first, my sister told my mom. When I finally came out to her myself, she reassured me that I was safe. The next day, she told my grandparents, and everything changed again.
My grandparents and parents were pastors—the kind who were offered television shows. They led megachurches serving Black and Latine communities across the Bay Area and Southern California. My entire foundation was rooted in the ideas and beliefs of God and Christianity. I grew up wearing long sleeves and long skirts, never showing my elbows or ankles. My home was deeply conservative, but my childhood was also incredibly turbulent.
Behind that foundation, my life was filled with years of abuse and instability. In many ways, my sisters and I were all drowning, and we couldn’t save each other. The only comfort we found was knowing we were suffering together.
“Because of Asafa Collective and the Anaz Fellowship, I received the support I needed to secure housing and begin building a different future.”
They were not supportive. I was told that “people like me” get killed, that “we are not normal,” and that “we suffer consequences.” I internalized that deeply. It made me feel worthless, and I began to live in ways that reflected that belief. What I didn’t fully understand at the time was that I was being disowned. I was kicked out of my mom’s house at 17, and for the next eight years, I did not have a stable or safe home. I stayed wherever I could, often in environments that were also unsafe.
At such a young age, I had to learn what emotional independence meant. I had been abandoned and was completely on my own—physically, mentally, and emotionally. At times, my family would offer love and support, but only if I was willing to change who I was. What they were offering was conditional. They believed my identity was something I could choose. They believed I was wrong. That I was a problem. That I was something to be feared.
My sense of self-worth, and what I believed I was capable of, was broken. I spent years in therapy trying to unlearn the negativity, the isolation, and the hyper-independence I had been forced into. I knew I wanted something different for my life, but I didn’t know how to get there.
That’s when I met Louiza at a local cafe in Oakland and we built a rapport over time rooted in trust. She shared more about Asafa Collective and the Anaz Fellowship Program, including how it supports young people beyond just academics. When she left, I thought about applying, but I was overwhelmed and unsure of myself, and I let the moment pass.
Three days later, Louiza came back into my job and encouraged me to finish my application for the Anaz Fellowship. It was a day I wasn’t even supposed to be working. Seeing her felt like relief. She was the only person encouraging me to take advantage of an opportunity I might have otherwise let slip away. At the time, I didn’t know how much that moment would change my life.
I am honored to say I am the first recipient of the Anaz Fellowship, and within two weeks of that day, I had my own apartment, in my name, for the first time in my life.
For the first time, I have a safe, stable place to live. A place where I can rest. A place where I can begin to process everything I’ve been through. A place where I don’t have to fight to survive every single day.
Because of Asafa Collective and the Anaz Fellowship, I received the support I needed to secure housing and begin building a different future. That stability has allowed me to return to school, focus on my goals, and start to believe in what is possible for my life.
I am still carrying grief. There are parts of my life I cannot share with my family. But for the first time, I am also experiencing peace.
I am no longer just surviving. I have the space to heal, to grow, and to begin liberating myself.
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