@rJason I’m really impressed by how proactive you’ve been to find your way to a degree under tough circumstances, lots of respect to you. Your sisters are very lucky to have you as a supporter and guide! You’ve figured out so much on your own that you may not need my help, but I’d share my thoughts on how a couple of smart, savvy young people can make money as efficiently as possible.
It seems to me that both you and your sisters need to focus on maximizing your pay rate, so that you don’t have to work any more hours than you want/need to and can put more of your focus on your educations. The key is to identify your most marketable skills, and then take them to the wealthiest clientele/location you can access – now that so much work is being done online/remotely, you may be surprised at how far you can reach! Based on your description, it sounds like you’re all smart, responsible, & trustworthy – folks will pay a premium for good help they can rely on!
For you, that likely means tutoring, especially SAT with your scores/math background – if you’re patient and communicate well, you should be able to get at least $70/hour on Long Island, and potentially quite a bit more (plus, you can get paid in cash on the date of service). Definitely PM me if you want more info/advice about tutoring. Otherwise, if you have any coding or design skills, you could probably start picking up website work for local businesses now – less sure of the pay rate here but seems like at least $30/hour if you’re decent, with a ton of room for growth. Or, you could look into high-end work that comes with cash tips, like caddying at a country club or hosting at an upscale restaurant or bar. Construction also tends to pay well if you’re up for it.
For your sisters, the most lucrative work would probably be babysitting/nannying/homework help (ideally for a wealthy family), hosting at a high-end restaurant where they’ll get tips, or learning a skill like lifeguarding that they could then take to work country clubs or private parties – $20/hour is well within reach for any of these options. Since making an extra $2k-$4k over a few months would make a critical difference to your family, I think it’s extremely worth it to target the most lucrative work opportunities you can find.
And lastly, it’s important to remember that applying for scholarships and student contests is a job that can have a much higher payoff than hourly work – potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of course you have to do what it takes to keep yourselves fed and housed, but I’m worried that if your sisters develop the mindset that all their free hours should be exchanged for minimum wage work, they’ll miss out on much bigger, transformative scholarship opportunities.
I think the best-case scenario would be for you all to first figure out how to upgrade your hourly pay as much as you can (for them +$2/hr is good, +$5/hr is better…you might be able gain $10-20/hour!) and then dedicate the hours saved to scholarship/college applications and the academic activities/contests that will make them competitive applicants. That still holds true even if CC is the best-fit college option for them – there are tons of outside scholarships that could give them money for transportation/living expenses (even at home!) and the other extra fees that have you worried. Lots of corporate and community-based scholarships focus on women, students from low-income backgrounds, and other underrepresented groups – your sisters are perfect candidates, and should absolutely take advantage. ROTC is another option to research. Plus, some scholarships come with mentoring support and internship access that, in the long-run, will be just as valuable as the money itself.
Good luck and I hope some of this helps!