'WE DIDN'T GIVE UP'

6 HOMELESS SISTERS ARE BECOMING NURSES TOGETHER

For Lauren Lawrence and her six sisters, the nightmare that upended their childhoods began in 2013 when their parents, David and Yonette, lost their home in the New York City borough of Queens in an ongoing legal-ownership dispute. The family of nine began hopping from one friend’s house to the next. “It was challenging,” says Lauren, now 24. “There were a lot of very bumpy, depressing times.”

Two years into the ordeal, David told his daughters—who had been struggling with school while relocating every few months—that he was determined not to let their situation prevent them from getting an education. The girls, who were then in their late elementary- and middle-school years, enrolled in a homeschool program with dreams of pursuing higher education. “He didn’t want what we were going through to hold us back,” says Dominique, 25.