Four sisters from LA’s Watts nurture families from the same blocks: ‘They stand in the gap’

The Sisters of Watts have served families for a decade, providing food, fitness, money and after-school programs

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the gymnasium in Ted Watkins park in the south Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts was crowded with more than 100 families. For three hours, they ate and talked while their kids ran around and a DJ blasted west coast hip-hop staples during games of limbo and musical chairs.

Toward the back of the room, people clamored around a step-and-repeat to get a picture with the event's organizers: four siblings known as the sisters of Watts, who for the past decade have arranged food giveaways, backpack drives and after-school activities for kids growing up on the same blocks they did. At this event, there were bags of fresh produce available for families that wanted them.