- [Patricia] There you go.

- [Derick] Turn it around baby.

- [Patricia] Yeah, (indistinct), that way daddy.

- [Boy] Yeah, that way.

- Come on man, I need y'all to get this together, man!

- And, we got it.

- Hi sisters!

- Hey, we got the big connect (indistinct).

Hey brothers!

Hey.

- [Patricia] This is the house that I grew up in.

- It's gon' rain on y'all heads.

Mamma said it's gon' rain on y'all heads.

- [Patricia] My parents bought it back in the early '90's.

All of my siblings grew up here, all 13 of us.

Six girls, seven boys.

Trina, I know you heard me tell you come help me!

We made it work.

The girls shared a room, the boys shared a room, and my parents had a room.

The house was always full.

Not only my siblings, but my cousins, they came over.

Our home was the house to be in.

(Motown music) We played games, we played hide and go seek in the dark, we went outside, jump rope.

(family shouting) You knew you was gonna have fun.

You knew you was gonna laugh.

You knew you was gonna eat.

- Whoo, that boy is smoking!

- [Derrick] You dig?

- [Patricia] So baby, these two are for mom.

- [Derrick] Them right here?

- Yeah.

- Them two.

Okay, soon as it come off I want it.

- [Patricia] Go bring me a plate for my momma.

- I want the mustered, bring me that mustered.

- Like, my grandmother, when she cooked the whole block could come and get a plate.

Who else want a hot dog?

And, that's what my mamma did.

It was like, where we don't have enough she gonna make it enough.

You want a hot dog, beautiful?

I just grew up in a house with love.

(indistinct chattering) - All the boys.

(laughs) - Oh, that's nice.

- Mom and dad had been married 41 years.

Both parents in the house my whole life, until just recently.

- Nah, you not.

You ain't getting this (indistinct).

- My dad passed away suddenly.

But, we had our father with us.

- This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

This the shirt that we had for the funeral.

- It was one that one of my dad's best friend's surprise birthday party.

Him and my mom went to surprise him, and they took the picture here.

About two weeks before he passed.

(slow piano music) My dad was everything to me.

Like, I seen my father every day of my life.

So, you know, to just have him gone, you know, it's... it was a hard pill to swallow.

But, he made sure that we were happy.

To his girls, he made sure that we know how a man is supposed to treat a woman.

He showed us and told us that you love yourself, you don't need nobody to love you, you love you first.

He instilled in us that no dream is too big.

Dream so big that only God can help you with your dream.

And, don't take no for a answer.

He told us family is first.

Regardless of what they do, what they say, you only get one.

And cherish and take care of them.

♪ Oh mamma see you ain't gotta cry no more ♪ ♪ I'm begging please aunty don't cry no more ♪ ♪ I know this pain feel like it's everlasting ♪ - (indistinct).

Ay, that's my daddy!

Get it, daddy!

♪ I'm praying I'm praying for better days ♪ ♪ I'm praying I'm prying for better days ♪ ♪ Lord (indistinct) some better days ♪ (Patricia screams) - My mom, she always dreamed of a house with a big yard for us to play in, and she got it.

I'm finna put the corn on, we finna put the corn on now.

It's definitely been a dream of mine.

Owning a home is like, the only thing I want.

(laughs) Like, since I was a kid.

Me and my husband, Derek, and our kids, we're currently living in my mom's basement.

Me and my husband, we was renting.

And.

we just recently got a letter in the mail that the landlord wasn't paying the taxes on the building.

- (indistinct), come get your daddy a water.

- [Patricia] So, we were forced pretty much, we had 30 days to pack up and leave.

We're ever so grateful for my mom, you know, for let us stay here.

But, I wanna be a home owner.

(slow piano music) Me and my husband, Derek, we've been married going on 12 years.

We have three kids.

Our first is Derek Junior.

He's 14, just went to high school, the sweetest boy.

The second is Kenneth.

He's 10, he just went to fifth grade.

He's just went into that independent stage to where he wanna do everything by himself.

- Stop running, buddy.

- The baby is the girl, Passion.

She's eight.

She's my little helper, she does everything around the house.

She like to cook, clean, you know, she check on us, check on her daddy, check on me.

- All right, come on.

- And, I pretty much don't see her a lot 'cause she's into Tik Tok.

(Passion singing) (laughter) - Mommy, we did my nails.

- Whoo, let me see.

- You got me the (indistinct)?

- I did.

- Yes!

- I know what you like little girl.

I original plan was to stay in the apartment that we was at and save until we had the money, and until our credit was where it needed to be to get a home.

Y'all ready for me to whoop y'all in this game?

We're still working on getting our house, but we just gonna put that on hold, and maybe just find us a apartment or a house to rent out.

- When the tree fell...

I'ma show you, the tree was here.

And, when the tree fell, it fell all the way.

I had a big tree and it fell this way.

- [Patricia] When the tree fell- - [Mom] It broke all of this.

- it broke all of this.

It broke into pieces.

- And then, it knocked this whole garage out.

That meant that now I have to decide whether I'm going to pay the whole light bill or partial.

Or, get on a partial plan.

Now I gotta get on a plan because I don't have the money for emergencies.

See, I really never had emergency- - [Together] Money.

- My daughter and I had got some money from FII, and we put it together and had him start on the fence.

- [Patricia] FII stands for Family Independence Initiative.

They give you a certain amount of funds to use towards your goals.

- I gotta tell you about this here.

- [Patricia] One of the things that my mom wants to get done is her kitchen.

- What is (indistinct)?

- Okay, what about the windows?

Didn't you say something about the windows?

- Yeah, the windows I'm getting them up.

- [ Patricia] She need a new floor, new cabinets, sink, everything.

- We gonna get the double sink.

- [Patricia] The funds that FII give out, you do not have to pay it back.

It's like a gift.

- And then we gonna get the new stove.

- FII money help with rent, FII money help bring me back up to date with my car notes, with the kids schooling.

- And this water is leaking and we have... - You gonna go through trials and tribulations while you live in this world, and you need help sometimes.

And, they was that organization that was like, "We understand real life situations."

(downbeat music) They wanted to help people in our community that had goals that it was hard or impossible to get along, you know, because of your credit, or because of the color of your skin, or because of your income, you know?

FII was like, "We're not looking at any of that.

We looking at a person that has a dream and a goal, and we just to help you fulfill it."

- What kind of stuff have you done with your FII fund?

- Oh my God, I have done so much.

We just... well my three goals when we first started was to fix my credits, to work towards, um buying a house and to work towards my husband truck.

He has his own business.

He didn't have a road truck.

He had to rent trucks and he had to pay like, $45 to $50 a day.

So, it was just like, wasting money.

- I was really struck when you told me when your husband's truck broke down his options were only to rent at really high cost .

It just made me think about like, the high cost of being broke.

Everything costs more.

- (laughs) Yes.

- Everything costs more.

- Wow.

When we got our money we sat it in that account and we did not touch it until we get the rest of what we needed to get his truck.

- Did you believe that the funds are really gonna come?

- No, I believed that it was gonna have... we was gonna have to do something for it.

I didn't think that it was gonna be as easy as you said it was, without having to pay anything back.

That's like, unheard of.

- Every day, I still get asked, like, "Do you have your families go through like, financial literacy or budgeting?"

And the answer is no.

Like, "Well, how do you work with them to set goals?"

I'm like, "We don't, they don't need our help to set goals."

Like, you and your husband know what you needed.

- FII was like, "You know better than anybody what you need.

You need help, here's the help, do whatever it is you need to do."

- It's just really important to us as an organization that we don't assume that people who might be struggling financially don't know what's best for them.

Families are inherently strong and capable and smart, and you can trust them with resources.

And that history has shown us that when you invest in people's initiatives, great things happen.

- We've been told no so many times, and we've been told we're not good enough as far as credit or income.

So, it was like, after you hear that so many times, it's like you give up on your goals, you give up on your dreams.

Because you like, "All I wanna do is get a little wiggle room to really do what I wanna do."

FII was like a cushion.

You know, it was something you could fall back on.

Good morning.

So, even like working and having a income with me and my husband, you know, sometimes it's just like, it's not enough.

And, due to the COVID-19, for five months he was off work.

That like, really put a damper on things.

'Cause, he was off.

But, I didn't have to worry about a babysitter.

I knew they was gonna be with their dad.

'Cause I was still working 'cause my job was essential, so I went to work every day.

I work for the WIC food center, in Gage Park.

WIC stands for Women Infant and Children.

How you doing today?

It's a government funded program and it's absolutely free.

Do want your receipt?

It's has lot of moms that don't have the resources or the funds to go into grocery stores to get healthy produce or food or milk or formula.

So, it's just another resource that they have.

What I love about my job is every time a client come in we try to make them feel like they're at home.

Coupons and ID, please.

- Okay.

- We have the same name.

- We do?

- Whoo.

Name twins, name twins.

You should feel like you're getting treated with A1 respect, and like you're getting greeted and you're getting everything that you deserve as a person.

It's not like a handout, it's help.

Now I'ma remember you, Patricia.

I can't forget.

I was on WIC with both of my kids, and it made a huge difference.

I didn't have to worry about where I was getting milk, cheese, beans, eggs, juice.

I definitely took advantage of it, and I'm so grateful.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to get into working for WIC, because it really helped me .

You all set.

And, I wanted to help other moms as well.

You also have a good day.

- [Customer] You too.

- Thank you.

Right now with everything that's going on, a lot of people lost their job.

But, I'm not really worried about it, because my job is really not my source.

I look to God to take care of me and my family.

I know some way somehow that He'll make a way for me to make ends meet.

(upbeat church music) Different communities that's not quite privileged, the church is a safe haven.

I have been there my whole life.

I've been there since I was in my mother's womb.

♪ Lord I thank you for ♪ ♪ For your saving grace ♪ ♪ Lord I thank you for ♪ (Patricia screaming) My mother parents went there.

My father parents went there.

Their kids went there.

Our kids go there.

So, it's like a generational church.

My dad been a pastor for 29 years.

My mother right now, she's the active pastor, because my dad passed away in September.

♪ With the power of the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ With the power of the Holy Ghost ♪ Going to church is like, therapy.

It's like you worrying, and you going through day-to-day life with so much that you face with.

You need a outlet.

You need a break.

And, that's what church is for me.

It's a break, it's a outlet, it's peace, it's joy, it's comfort, it's home.

- [Pastor] Hallelujah.

- [Congregation] Hallelujah.

Every day since September 10th, going into the church kinda been emotional, 'cause my father was the pastor.

And, I didn't only lose my father, I lost my pastor.

(congregation shouting) To be up there and see a empty chair with him not there- (Patricia crying) reality sets in.

Like, that person is actually gone.

(cries) Oh daddy, daddy.

And, I just miss them.

I just miss them.

(Patricia crying) (worship music) If you don't have anything else, when you see that church on that corner, or on that block, you know there is some form of help.

You don't have to worry about getting turned away.

You don't have to worry about getting judged.

You don't have to worry about paying it back.

When you don't have nothing else, you have God.

(indistinct chattering) - Keep 'em Lord, keep 'em Lord.

Yes Lord.

Yes Lord, protection Lord.

- You just need the support of others.

You need a helping hand sometimes.

Sometimes, after you done did so much, and you done got so down and out, and you just feel like you done lost all hope, you need somebody that's gonna be there for you, and that's gonna let you know that it's okay.

You failed, it's okay, get back up.

- [Mom] I see promotion around you.

Glory, hallelujah.

- You gotta sacrifice to get promotion.

Okay?

- [Congregant] Yeah, I know.

- Okay?

I see promotion.

Only one who can hold you back is you.

- God knows that you need money to live.

You can't live off prayer, you know?

(laughs) You can't live off fasting, you need money.

And God, knowing that you need money, he's going to make sure that He provide the money for you that you need.

And, if you believe that God said He's gonna do this, He's gonna do it, you know?

And, it depends on you to tap into what it is that's already in you.

(dramatic music)