The February wind whipped through Tulsa, cutting through coats and creeping into bones. For Alicia and her two children—ten-year-old Mateo and six-year-old Rosie—winter had become a daily battle.
Three months earlier, life had fallen apart.
The small diner where Alicia worked closed overnight. Paychecks stopped. Rent piled up. Their landlord eventually ran out of patience. Then their car broke down, swallowing the last of her savings.
Soon, they were living between cheap motels and their aging Honda Civic.
Alicia kept telling her children things would get better.
But she wasn’t always sure she believed it herself.
The Sign That Changed Everything
One afternoon, a paper sign taped to a telephone pole caught her eye.
Continue on the next page:
