(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)They are a tight knot of a family mounting a bare-bones battle for the American Dream from an apartment next to the Century Freeway in South Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)Sandy was clear how she saw herself from at least age 3. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)In grade school, Sandy still dressed like a boy and used her male birth name. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)Jose felt he was escaping the crushing poverty that seemed to be his fate. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)The blister got infected and she went to the emergency room at Martin Luther King Community Hospital.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 13, 2021 12:00 UTC