Alumna Transformed Her Life, Now Aims to Help Other Survivors

By Luciana Chavez Special to Merced College

Years ago, Merced native Gameelah Mohamed was a young mother stuck in an arranged marriage thousands of miles from home.

At that time, the Yemeni woman could barely imagine attending high school, much less evolving into an empowered defender of vulnerable women. But that’s exactly what she did, legally escaping that restrictive life to then begin an incredible second act.

“Now I do all of the things my ex-husband said I would never do,” she said.

The History

Mohamed earned the right to change her future by surviving so much: Losing her mother to cancer as a girl; eventually being moved far from home; denied an education like other women born into patriarchal cultures; silenced by a husband’s intimidation and insults.

The emotional abuse made her days difficult. The financial constraints made it nearly impossible to make a change. She couldn’t rent a place to live or gain custody of her children.

Mohamed never lost herself during the harrowing parts. She let her faith buoy her.

“My faith is a strength,” said the devout Muslim. “I have friends in similar circumstances who walked away from their faith. They had to put it all behind them. I couldn’t do that. Because walking away would make it more difficult for other women who had to do what I did.

“It wasn’t going to be easy to make generational change. My plans wouldn’t work if I left my faith to leave the marriage. But the universe sent me allies left and right, and that’s how I survived.”

Mohamed successfully shielded her children from her troubles.

“They had no idea,” she said. “I know the long-term effects of trauma on children when you don’t protect them. I didn’t want to dump my trauma on them.”

After filing for divorce in February 2017, Mohamed rapidly reconstructed her life. A month later, she received a restraining order and safely took her family back to Merced that July. She enrolled in adult school in September and earned her GED three months later.

An adult school counselor, who knew she wanted to support vulnerable women, told her to volunteer at Merced’s Valley Crisis Center. By January 2018, Mohamed was a paid employee. By January 2019, she was studying at Merced College.

Of starting college, Mohamed said: “I wondered, ‘Can I really do this? I didn’t even go to high school!’ But I saw other people my age, and it stopped feeling so intimidating. I did well, so I went to summer school. I couldn’t get enough. You can’t imagine how grateful I am to Merced College for welcoming me in.”

The Present

Mohamed continues to rise. Wowed by her personal narrative and accomplishments, the University of California Board of Regents in 2021 gave her a prestigious UC Regents Award, worth over $14,000, to pursue her bachelor’s degree at UC Merced.

Mohamed has maintained a close friendship with Emmy-winning filmmaker Melody C. Miller, who produced a 2018 documentary about sex trafficking called "California's Forgotten Children.”

During initial screenings, Rachel Thomas, a survivor featured in the film who has a master’s degree in education, collected thousands of viewer surveys. The majority came from Merced County students and helped Thomas and Miller develop a curriculum for the film. Mohamed has worked with both women in recent years to push for the film and curriculum to get into high schools throughout California.

Mohamed also led the effort to build a county anti-trafficking coalition in 2019 through partnerships with a wide array of community and government agencies. The program eventually, with her urging, also sought and received a competitive grant in 2022 that paid for additional staff, a safe house, a full-time attorney, a mental health practitioner and transitional housing.

For her efforts, Mohamed was recognized by U.S. Congressman Jim Costa for Women’s History Month in 2022 and as a “Woman Leading the Way” by State Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria in 2024.

In her day job as Community Disaster Program Manager with Merced County Red Cross, Mohamed has also built up the group’s disaster response capacity with more local volunteers who know the community. For that work, the Merced County Board of Supervisors recognized them as the 2024 Volunteer Organization of the Year.

The Future

Would it impress you more if we reminded you that Mohamed didn’t start her education or her real work until eight years ago?

It should. The 43-year-old is currently studying online for a master’s degree in public administration with the University of Illinois, Springfield. Law school may be in her future. She is also working to launch a nonprofit to serve survivors from the Central Valley with backgrounds similar to hers.

“I want an agency run by survivors who have processed their own trauma and are ready to guide people through the same obstacles,” Mohamed said. “That’s the only reason I share my story. I want to tell survivors, ‘Don’t give up. You’re not alone. It won’t be easy. But keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll learn who to trust and what to do.’”

Someone else once defined who she was as a married woman. Now, Gameelah Mohamed defines who she is as a single mother and professional, using the brain and soul God gave her to serve others.

“Advocacy is my life,” she said. “I love every minute of it.”

Additional resources for survivors: The National Human Trafficking Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in 200+ languages, at 1-888-373-7888. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting BEGIN to 88788.