(Atlanta, GA) One young leader is transforming her own health struggles into a mission to support and empower other girls. Trinity Smith, an 18-year-old senior at Charles R. Drew Charter School, is the founder of Roots in Her Health, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young women navigate their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Hear Trinity's inspirational story:
Smith’s journey began with a life-altering diagnosis in childhood. After suffering a concussion and later a car accident that caused another head injury, she began experiencing chronic migraines that would follow her throughout her adolescence.
“I was diagnosed with chronic migraines in fifth grade,” Smith explains. “After that I was homeschooled all through middle school. Those years were really isolating.”
While homeschooling allowed her body to heal, it also meant missing out on many of the everyday experiences most middle schoolers take for granted—field trips, lunch with friends, and social activities. The isolation, she says, often made her feel like a burden and left her wondering if anyone else understood what she was going through.
When Smith returned to a traditional school environment for high school, she hoped for a fresh start. Instead, she encountered another challenge—having her chronic illness misunderstood.
“Often my illness was minimized, and I felt like I had to legitimize the pain I was experiencing,” she says. “It started to feel extremely isolating.”
That experience became the spark that eventually led to Roots in Her Health.
“I started my nonprofit so that no other young girl has to face those challenges alone,” Smith says. “I want them to have the education about their bodies and their health, but also the support that I really needed during those formative years.”
Roots in Her Health focuses on what Smith calls the “petals of wellness”—mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. The goal is to help girls understand that their well-being is interconnected.
“Oftentimes when people hear ‘health,’ they only think about the medical side,” Smith explains. “But your mental health, your stress, your emotions—they all impact your physical health.”
She learned that connection firsthand. Stress and anxiety often worsened her migraine symptoms, showing her how closely the body and mind are linked.
Through her nonprofit, Smith creates safe spaces where girls can openly talk about their experiences, learn about self-care, and develop tools for self-awareness and confidence.
One of the ways Roots in Her Health connects with girls is through weekly wellness sessions at a local YMCA teen program. These gatherings include activities, discussions, and what Smith calls “sister circles,” where girls are invited to share about their day and the challenges they’re facing.
After one of these conversations, Smith gave the girls journals to help them process their thoughts.
“A week later, one girl came up to me and said she never knew she was allowed to write down how she felt,” Smith recalls. “She didn’t know that expressing her emotions was okay.”
Moments like that remind Smith why the work matters.
“Just knowing that she felt comfortable allowing herself to feel—that meant everything.”
The sessions also address issues of self-esteem, especially in a world where social media comparisons can weigh heavily on young people.
“There’s only one you,” Smith tells the girls. “You don’t have to compare yourself to anyone else. Being authentically yourself is what makes you unique.”
Activities sometimes center around identity and self-care. During Black History Month, Smith led a discussion about hair and self-image, calling the session “Our Crown.” The goal was to help girls understand that caring for themselves—including their hair—is part of honoring who they are.
Faith has also played a significant role in Smith’s journey.
She says trusting God helped her persevere through some of the most difficult moments of her life—including the unexpected loss of her brother while she was navigating her own health challenges.
“Having faith that my journey would end the way it was intended to be was really important,” Smith says.
Looking back now as a senior in high school, she sees purpose in the struggles she once questioned.
“When I look at the girls I work with, I see myself in them,” she says. “I see their pain and their struggles, and I feel like I’m planting seeds in them that they’ll carry into high school and adulthood.”
Smith’s nonprofit also partners with organizations that supported her during her own medical journey.
One of those partnerships is with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she once received treatment. Through Roots in Her Health, she donated 100 wellness bags to children hospitalized on the neurology floor. Each bag included items like journals, stickers, and fidget toys—small reminders of comfort during difficult hospital stays.
During the holidays, the organization also hosted a toy drive for hospitalized children.
“Being in the hospital can feel really isolating,” Smith says. “I wanted to remind those kids that the outside world is still there and that people care about them.”
The Atlanta community has rallied around Smith’s mission. A recent fundraiser held at Georgia State University invited supporters to create their own flower bouquets, with proceeds benefiting hospitalized children.
Smith says she was deeply moved by the generosity she witnessed.
“People came up to the table and donated money without even knowing me personally,” she says. “It reminded me that there are people who truly care about the next generation.”
As she prepares to graduate high school, Smith is already thinking about the future. She plans to pursue studies in pediatric medicine, with hopes of becoming either a pediatrician or a pediatric occupational therapist.
Her inspiration partly comes from her older sister, who was born prematurely and spent months in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“I grew up going to her therapy and doctor appointments,” Smith says. “Seeing the care those healthcare workers gave her was incredibly inspiring.”
Now she hopes to offer that same compassion to other children.
“I want kids facing illnesses or disabilities to know they can still become whoever they want to be,” she says.
Through Roots in Her Health, Smith is already making that impact—helping young girls understand their worth, care for their whole selves, and know they are not alone.
For more information about Roots in Her Health, visit rootsinherhealth.com.