There are millions of people in poverty all across the United States. And many of those who are impoverished are children. In fact, one out of every five children are living in a family who fall below the poverty threshold, and one child in every 30 in the United States have nowhere to call home.
These children leave school and do not know if their family will be in the same place that they slept the night before. Many times, the children of the family and the parents (or parent as the case may be) will split up from each other, each trying to find somewhere warm and dry to sleep.
In fact, this is NFL Lineman Michael Oher’s first memory. He remembers being about two years old walking with a brother – who was not much older than him – on a highway to look or somewhere to sleep.
Michael Oher had an extremely tough childhood, but his is not unique. Born to a mother who had nearly a dozen other children and was abusing various substances, Oher had to learn how to raise and fend for himself on the streets of Memphis, TN. It would take a couple of chance encounters before Oher would meet the woman, and the family, who would change his life.
His story is one of rags to riches and of encouragement. Yet it is a once in a lifetime story. As Michael knows, there are millions of people sleeping on the streets of major cities all over the United States. His is a point of light in a world of darkness, where a brave family took a chance and took him in. This is the true story which shows that if you give the right person the right tools, they can do anything they set their mind to.
[post_page_title]Birth[/post_page_title]
Michael Oher’s birthname is actually Michael Jerome Williams Jr., and he was born in 1986. His mother, Denise Oher, had 11 other children besides Michael. However, she was barely at home, having a severe substance abuse problem and not really caring about her children. Mike’s father, Michael Jerome Williams, was also not in Michael Jr.’s life due to going in and out of prison constantly. It seemed like the odds were stacked against Michael Oher from day one.
