In the South Side slums of Chicago, Illinois, middle-aged mother Lucille Brown, known affectionately as “Mama,” encourages her daughter, Leola, to work hard so she can go to college and open her own day-care center for underprivileged children. In addition to her studies, Leola is an active member of the student body and looks after her three siblings, Wren, Willie, and Lois. One night during dinner, a woman knocks on the door asking for their philandering, hard-drinking father, Sam. The children know she is his mistress, but Mama continues to deny her husband’s wrongdoings. The next morning, Sam announces he has quit his job, leaving the family without any source of income. Mama seeks work as a babysitter, while Wren and Willie hijack cars and sell them for spare parts. One afternoon, Leola’s friend, Barbara Williams, gets them both into trouble for smoking marijuana in the school bathroom. Although Leola is innocent, the principal prohibits her from graduating until one of them confesses. When Sam contracts gonorrhea, he becomes the neighborhood laughingstock, but Mama still promises to support him. Determined to keep her family afloat, she starts a day-care service for the mothers in their building, but the Department of Children and Family Services shuts her down for not having the required license. Two undercover police officers catch Wren stealing a car and shoot him in the abdomen. He slips into a coma, and doctors worry he may never recover. Meanwhile, Leola learns she is pregnant by her classmate, Zeek. Although she decides she is not ready for marriage, her previous boyfriend, Bob, hears rumors of her pregnancy and offers to support her. Barbara advises her to consider an abortion so she does not have to give up on her dreams, but Leola is too frightened to follow through with the procedure. Mama learns that Barbara has confessed to smoking the marijuana, and the principal has decided not to administer punishment. However, Leola is too ashamed to return to school, and chooses to finish her degree through a GED (General Educational Development) program. The Department of Child and Family Services permits Mama to continue her in-home day-care business, provided she makes various modifications to the apartment. With her husband still out of work, however, she continues to babysit illicitly until she can raise enough money. Wren eventually awakens from his coma, while Leola passes her GED and secures a job at the post office. Once she gives birth, she enrolls in night college and resumes her relationship with Bob. Mama receives her home care license, and Sam seeks help for alcoholism. After a few months working at the post office, Leola is approved for a small business loan to lease a nearby building, which she reopens as the Bunny Land Day Care center.