The Harris Family

When Diamond Harris gave birth to sextuplets, their household grew from three to nine people living in a 2100 square foot house. DeWayne always wanted a sister or brother, but recently expressed to his mother, "but not this many!" The babies are America's first recorded set of surviving African-American sextuplets. Christopher Harris is an elementary school teacher and his wife, Diamond, is a licensed practical nurse who currently is attending nursing school full time. The family has depleted their trust fund, which was given to them at the birth of the babies, and since then they have had to use those funds to meet their daily needs. When Hurricane Ivan hit Birmingham, a tree fell on the house leaving a big hole in the roof above the playroom for the children. As a result of the water damage, the whole family had to live in the basement. Diamond and Christopher have asked for only three things: a bigger house, food, and education for their children. Through the efforts of Legacy Ladies, Inc., they nominated the Harris family an ABC's Extreme Makeover - Home Edition. On February 6, 2005, the family moved into their new home. Despite the advantage of a new home, the family still struggles to make ends meet on Christopher's salary of $30,000 "gross" a year, as a teacher. For additional information on the Harris family, please refer to www.harrissextuplets.net.