Public Housing Success Stories
A number of extraordinarily successful people spent their formative years in America's government housing—making the case that some support early in life can lead to success in anything—from academia, acting, and music, to politics, business, and sports.
One of the portraits of success below is 17-year-old Leonard Galmon.
The son of a 13-year-old mother and troubled father, Galmon grew up on the streets of the Magnolia public housing development in New Orleans. There, he fought hard to forge his education in notoriously poor public schools, eventually overcoming long odds to win a scholarship to Yale University.
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Civil rights leader who lived in one of the first public housing projects in Atlanta, Georgia.
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U.S. President, Jimmy Carter lived in public housing in Plains, Georgia.
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Yale University Student
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor grew up in a Bronx public housing unit.
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Starbucks Chairman was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved with his family to the Bayview Housing projects in Canarsie, NY.
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Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick lived in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes.
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U.S. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks was raised in a public housing project in East Harlem.
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NY Congressman Eliot Engel was born in the Bronx and grew up in a Ney York housing project.
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The first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge grew up in public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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Economist, Walter E. Williams grew up in a West Philadelphia housing project. Williams has often given testimony before Congress on matters of public policy.
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Mary Wilson grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Caryn Elaine Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg, she spent 19 years on the sixth floor of the Chelsea Houses, NY.
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Lily Tomlin grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Dr. Aprille Ericcon, who studied at MIT before becoming the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering.
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Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes were once home to Kirby Puckett.
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Boxer, Hector "Macho" Camacho lived in NY's James Weldon Johnson Houses, moving there as a child after his birth in Puerto Rico.
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Diana Ross grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Florance Ballard grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Loni Love grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Etterlene DeBarge grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects during their early years.
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Actress Angela Bassett grew up in public housing in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Salsa singer Marc Anthony grew up in the Metro North Houses in East Harlem.
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Sean P. Combs grew up in public housing in Harlem.
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Florida Governor Rick Scott lived in public housing in Urbana, Illinois.
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Mr. T, (Rocky, The A Team), spent his childhood in Chicago public housing.
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Jay-Z grew up in public housing in Marcy Houses in Brooklyn.
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Kenny Rogers, famed country music legend and actor, grew up in public housing in Houston.
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Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and Chairman, Goldman Sachs, grew up in Brooklyn public housing.
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Xerox CEO, the first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, grew up in New York City’s Lower East Side public housing.
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Singer, Elvis Presley grew up in public housing in Memphis.