But who knows where the resources are to support them?
Vanessa Simmons is the grandmother of three, all girls. The two youngest girls live with their biological mother in D.C., not far from where Simmons lives. Anaiyah, the oldest girl, lives with her.
Fourteen years ago, when Simmons, 57, lost her only child, her 32-year-old son, to gun violence on the streets of D.C., she brought Anaiyah into her home. She agreed to raise her son’s young daughter because he was gone, and at the time, Anaiyah’s mother could not.