By Michael Barnes

Originally posted in MyStatesman

In 2001, when Sam Espinosa was a senior in high school, his family lived day to day in a motel room.

He performed extremely well in school, played on the varsity baseball team, and held down multiple jobs to help out his mother and five siblings, while they secretly lived on the knife’s edge.

The next year, Espinosa, no longer at risk, was able to attend Yale University on a full ride, studied history, among other subjects, and made crucial contacts that would ultimately lead to a successful career with digital start-ups. He recently married his sweetheart, a marketing professional.

Salvation Army gave Austin’s Espinosa family a firm hand up photo

Carla Bossenbroek and Nina Seely at the Classical Garden.

Read the original Austin American-Statesman story here.