• Interview

It’s Impossible to Do Homework While Living in a Car

“I try to go to the library to do my homework, but sometimes that’s just kind of impossible. Like, we’re not near one or we don’t have enough gas to get to one. And that kind of screwed up my GPA and any chances of getting into colleges I would want to get into. I worry about that a lot,” says 17-year-old Erika Kalberer in conversation with her mom, Kris. At the time of recording, their family was living in a car in Seattle. They talk about the challenges of their situation, Kris’s frustrations around not being able to “fix it,” and how being together gives them strength.

Their story aired on NPR’s Morning Edition on Aug. 22, 2014. It was also featured on the Firesteel post “Homelessness Threatens Student Success.”

  • Location: King County
  • Produced by: Liyna Anwar and Eve Claxton
  • Facilitated by: Whitney Henry-Lester
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