Growing up, Isis Patterson and her family were constantly operating in survival mode. School offered her the safety and security she lacked at home, so she took a liking to it. When she found out she was pregnant at 15, she kept herself immersed in her schoolwork, graduated with honors, and received a full-ride scholarship to college. Driven by her own experiences with housing insecurity, she studied public policy as an undergraduate student, and pursued housing equity work, leading her to want to better understand the root causes of housing instability. But a graduate program involved financial risk, and she needed affordable housing, childcare, and a tuition package to make her dream feasible. Fortunately, Isis secured housing on an income-based sliding scale, and was able to lean on the support of friends and mentors to pursue a Masters Degree in Urban Planning at Harvard University.  Isis is again balancing being a mom and a student, with the same motivation in mind—the future of her children. Reporter Lisa Bartfai brings us Isis’ story of overcoming generational poverty, achieving educational success, and always striving for more for her family and her community.

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