As children, Minerva and her sister dreamed of opening a home where people could come and stay to find direction and catch their breath from the race of life. Their devotion to help others in need, and to assist them through the trials of life, empowered them to open an apartment building located at 53 Mulberry. Using the inheritance from their father's estate, they began a journey together to fulfill that dream. "People are like lamps. They are all unique," their father taught them, "Some are short and some tall, some are round and some are square, some are plain and some are ornate, but none of them…none of them are truly effective for the purpose they were made for until the light is turned on inside." Through enduring financial hardships, and the unending attempts to shut it down by her brother-in-law Franklin Harcourt III, Minerva struggles to remain true to her faith in God, and the vision she and her late sister shared to "turn the light on" inside everyone that called 53 Mulberry home.