1. Liz Murray was born on September 23,1980, in the Bronx, New York to poor and drug-addicted parents, both of whom would later contract HIV.
22 Facts About Liz Murray
1. 2.
Liz Murray was surrounded by drug use from an early age and lived in an unclean environment.
3.
Liz Murray was often hungry and ate ice cubes because it felt like eating.
4.
When she was about 9 years old, Liz Murray began working jobs at gas stations and supermarkets to earn money for groceries.
5.
Liz Murray lived with her father until their neighbor called the social services, who took her in custody for her own protection for 35 days.
6.
Murray, her mother and sister Lisa lived with her mother's father for a few years, but at the age of 13 Murray was put in a group home for a while.
7.
Liz Murray became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS in 1996 and her father moved to a homeless shelter.
8.
Liz Murray wanted to turn her life around and finish her education.
9.
Liz Murray found a job door-to-door soliciting donations in support of environmental political initiatives.
10.
Liz Murray knew her survival depended on the job, so she ended up breaking all the sales records of the company, and made more than $8000 in two months.
11.
Liz Murray earned a 95 average and graduated at the top of a class of 158.
12.
Liz Murray was awarded a scholarship by The New York Times for needy students and was accepted into Harvard University, matriculating in the fall semester of 2000.
13.
Liz Murray transferred from Harvard to Columbia University in 2003 to care for her ailing father.
14.
Liz Murray earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology in June 2009.
15.
Liz Murray's older sister Lisa graduated from Purchase College in New York and is a school teacher for children with autism.
16.
Liz Murray is the co-founder of a youth mentoring organization called "The Arthur Project," which was named in honor of her first mentor.
17.
Liz Murray has been a speaker at events alongside Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev and Dalai Lama.
18.
Liz Murray made a speech at the annual conference of the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless at the Yakima Convention Center in 2007.
19.
Murray served as a co-producer in Lifetime's television film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story starring actress Thora Birch.
20.
Liz Murray made a brief cameo appearance in the film as a social worker.
21.
Liz Murray's memoir Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard was published by Hachette Books in 2010.
22.
Liz Murray has received numerous accolades and awards, including the White House Project's Role Model Award, Oprah Winfrey's first-ever Chutzpah Award in 2004 and Alex Award in 2011.