Carter has experienced incarceration and homelessness firsthand. As such, she knows better than most how these two social ills can feed into each other and perpetuate a vicious cycle. In 2002, she created the Time for Change Foundation, which helps women and children get off the streets, out of prisons, and into stable environments where they can heal and thrive. Time for Change employs a “full continuum” approach for its beneficiaries, helping low-income women find housing, break drug addictions, expunge criminal records, and reunite with their children. To date, Carter and her organization have helped more than 1,000 women in her native California. Over the next few years, she aims to tackle gaps in income and political representation based on sex and race.
Carter’s influence has grown well beyond a single organization in California. This year, the anthology film “Tell It Like a Woman” became available for streaming in the United States. One segment, “Pepcy & Kim,” stars award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson as Carter, bringing the Time for Change Foundation’s laudable origin story to a wider audience. Carter’s work has already helped hundreds of individuals directly, and a movie based on her work may well inspire more people to follow her example.
