Kathryn-Marie Gregory dreams big. After graduating high school in Williamston, NC, Kathryn bravely moved her one-year-old son, Jaden, and herself away from her hometown to go to school at UNC-Chapel Hill. She worked hard throughout her time at UNC to pay for her education and support Jaden. But, giving birth to her first daughter, Kenzi, during her junior year of college, Kathryn was forced to choose between providing for her family and finishing her degree. Loving her children dearly, she gave up her Carolina dream to work fulltime. Kathryn continued to push herself to support Jaden and Kenzi, and completed her family with her third child, Lily-Rae in 2017. A single-mom through it all, Kathryn does her best to balance work, finances and motherhood, but the small house they are renting now is not enough. Kathryn dreams of being able to give her kids more and is starting to fulfill that dream by closing on the first home of her very own. — Lily-Rae finds comfort in her mom’s warm embrace when she wakes up in the morning. Sleeping in the bunk bed beneath Kenzi, the girls often wonder where their dad is, which is difficult for Kathryn to explain. Even though it was a painful decision for her to distance her daughters from their dad, Kathryn says his poor choices recently “got him locked up.” So, she is thankful her daughters have been shielded from his situation. The girls know their dad but struggle to understand why he is no longer in their lives.