After leaving my seven year-old at school, my three other children and I stop by the park to have fun for a while. These are my children’s happy hours. Here my children and I enjoy the community space to play, laugh, and leave behind the stress of our small living space. But we know that the moments of joy we share in this other world are short. When I tell my children that it is time to go to home, they are sad and they ask me, "Why don't we have a space like this to play?" My answer is to have hope that one day we will have a large space in which they are able to play. By sharing our stories of scarcity, we can educate others about the reality of living in poor housing conditions. Learning how to advocate for improved housing conditions, I have started to connect to resources and organizations in the community that support families like mine.

—Melissa