WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama has invited Sabrina Jenkins, an Air Force veteran and single mother from South Carolina, to join her at the State of the Union Address Tuesday evening.
Jenkins, 45, who lives with rheumatoid arthritis, faces $90,000 in student loans and lives paycheck to paycheck working for the Charleston County Housing Authority. She was recently featured in "The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink," where she told of living on the edge of poverty.
"It is a thrill and an honor to be invited by the first lady to sit with her in the Capitol while the president gives the State of the Union,” Jenkins said. “My story is the story of so many women in this country who are struggling to raise our children and provide for our families while managing our own health needs."
Shriver Report host Maria Shriver celebrated the first lady's decision to invite Jenkins to the speech.
“For too many American women, the dream of ‘having it all’ has morphed into ‘just hanging on,’” said Shriver. “I’m delighted that the president and first lady have identified Sabrina Jenkins, with her indomitable strength and courage, as an example of the challenges faced by working women every day."
View photos of Jenkins, taken as part of a photojournalism project by The Shriver Report below:
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