By Jessica Hopper, Tim Sandler and Cristina Boado
Rock Center
Before the sun rises, Cindy and Patrick Kennard wake their three daughters, fold their cots in a Sunday school classroom and pack their lives into suitcases.
“This is an every Sunday ritual,” said Cindy Kennard. “It’s something that we do every week and so it just becomes natural. We know the best thing is to get up and keep moving.”
The Kennard family of five from Johnson City, Tenn., is homeless. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Kennards is that despite their homelessness, they are still a working family. For the last seven years, Patrick Kennard has worked a full-time job with benefits at a bank call center and until recently, Cindy Kennard worked as a director of a daycare facility.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
Cindy and Patrick Kennard
“When we fell, we fell hard and we fell fast,” Cindy Kennard told NBC News’ Ann Curry in an interview airing Thursday, Nov. 29 on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
The Kennards are one of a growing number of working families who have become homeless. In the wake of the recession, experts say that families like the Kennards represent a historic juncture when it comes to homelessness in America.
“It’s hard sometimes for people to appreciate. They’re so used to the stereotyped homeless populations, the visible homeless, if you will, who live outdoors in public locations and they’re not aware that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people, many of them working, who are homeless as well,” said Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania social policy professor whose research focuses on homelessness.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
The Kennard family settling in at another church shelter. Each week, the family stays in a different Sunday school classroom.
The number of people in homeless families living in suburban and rural areas rose nearly 60 percent during the depths of the Great Recession, according to figures from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). More than one million school-aged children are now homeless, according to the Department of Education.
“There are more children homeless now than have ever been before,” Culhane said.
WATCH VIDEO: No Place Like Home: Working families increasingly homeless
For Patrick Kennard, the feeling that he’s failed his three daughters, 9-year-old Jillian, 14-year-old Melodie and 16-year-old Brianne, sends him into despair.
“I think I could have handled this whole situation better had it not been for the fact that I was taking my three children into it with me,” said Kennard. “They didn’t do anything to deserve this. They didn’t do anything. They’re totally innocent.”
How to help the families featured on our show
Photo credit: Ann Curry
The Kennard family (clockwise starting on far left): 16-year-old Brianne Kennard, Cindy Kennard, 14-year-old Melodie Kennard, 9-year-old Jillian Kennard and Patrick Kennard
Cindy and Patrick Kennard, married 19 years, worked hard to pursue the American dream. They have college degrees. Both tried to build their savings as they worked. Their dream began to crumble when Patrick Kennard suffered kidney problems that led to expensive hospital stays and mounting medical bills. Even with the health insurance he had from work, the family still owed around $5,000. Their car broke down repeatedly, costing them more than $3,000. The couple's debt began to mount. Combining their student loan debt and medical bills, they found themselves more than $35,000 in debt.
Unable to afford child care, Cindy Kennard was forced to quit her job leaving them with only her husband's income, around $35,000 a year. The family was living paycheck to paycheck and still did not have enough to cover their monthly expenses. They became behind on their rent. They downsized to a cramped two-bedroom apartment from their more spacious four-bedroom apartment. Again, they were unable to afford rent and were evicted.
“I wanted to dig a hole and let somebody cover me up,” said Cindy Kennard.
The youngest Kennard, 9-year-old Jillian, took the eviction news especially hard. “I was scared because I loved the house and I didn’t want to leave it,” she said.
The Kennards pondered living in their van or at a campground. They made heart-breaking decisions, including pawning their wedding rings for $100.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
Cindy and Patrick Kennard holding hands.
“One of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do was to sell my wedding band,” Patrick Kennard said. “That ring on my finger meant the world to me.”
For Cindy and Patrick Kennard’s daughters, being homeless means living a life of uncertainty and sometimes shame.
Through tears, 16-year-old Brianne described the hardest part about being a homeless kid: hoping no one finds out.
“Sometimes when we’re on our way to school, we have to ride up here in, like, a church van and people can probably see that and then they probably wonder why,” Brianne said. “But people finding out is probably one of the scariest things.”
Brianne has told a few of her close friends who have kept her secret. She was willing to speak publicly about it for the first time because she wants to help other kids like her.
“When we became homeless, we lost everything but our faith and that’s what I would say is don’t lose your faith,” said Brianne of her advice to other homeless families.
Nine-year-old Jillian also feared telling classmates about her family’s struggle.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
Jillian Kennard built the bird house pictured and carries it with her from shelter to shelter because it reminds her of her old house.
“I didn’t want everybody to laugh at me,” she said.
When her friends left school and returned to their homes, she went to a shelter. Jillian said, “I felt happy for them because they had a house and I didn’t.”
The red-headed little girl clings to a pink bird house she built out of popsicle sticks, glitter and glue because it reminds her of the family’s old home.
She sometimes has nightmares and dreams of one day having a slumber party in her own room with a bed covered in Tinkerbell sheets.
The family has moved 15 times in the last four months. Through a church and community program sheltering homeless families called the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the family rotates to a different Sunday school classroom each week.
“I had the stereotypical man holding up the sign, ‘Will work for food, have family, need help’ and I never realized how close I was to being that person,” Patrick Kennard said. “Homelessness can happen to anybody. We’re proof of that.”
Brian Rosecrance runs the Interfaith Hospitality Network’s chapter in Johnson City, Tenn., that’s been helping the Kennards as they find their financial footing. He said he has seen a distinct change in the families seeking help.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
“In the past three, four years, we’ve seen higher-educated people. We’ve seen people who are currently employed coming to us. We’ve seen a lot of families with job layoff situations where they were laid off a month or two ago and now they’re homeless,” Rosecrance said.
Rosecrance said his waiting list of families needing help continues to grow. Part of what makes the Interfaith Hospitality Network unique is that it allows families to stay together.
“One thing that I've seen for as many years as I've been doing this is a real resilience with these families,” Rosecrance said. “And I think that's the whole secret. That, you know, mom and dad don't have to go one place while the kids stay with other relatives or they don't have to be separated in a shelter between men and women.”
Advocates say there are not enough shelters for the nation’s new wave of homeless families and many shelters separate men and women because of security reasons.
Shaun Donovan, the secretary of HUD, said that shelters must begin to use their funding differently to accommodate the rise in homeless families. He acknowledged that family-friendly shelters are under-funded.
“I’m not satisfied that we have the full amount of resources that we need and we will continue to fight for more,” Donovan said.
Donovan said he is working on an ambitious plan to reach families before they become homeless.
“I absolutely believe and the president [President Barack Obama] has fought for greater investment in homelessness in making sure we have adequate shelter, but also in making sure we have new, innovative directions that we can go to prevent it,” Donovan said.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
The Kennard couple outside what will be their new apartment.
Back in Tennessee, the Kennard sisters say that they are learning unexpected lessons from homelessness.
“I’ve learned to love more, to love more people, to love the family more and love the outside world,” said Brianne.
The family recently received some good news. The church shelter they’ve been staying in offered them a grant to help them pay rent for up to five years. The family is expecting to move into a four-bedroom apartment next week.
Perhaps Jillian will now be able to put down her bird house and decorate her own room with Tinkerbell décor.
Photo credit: Ann Curry
Jillian looking at her birdhouse.
To help the Kennard Family: Email kennardfamily5@gmail.com
To help Darlene Gaines and her sons: Email Darlenegaines2012@gmail.com
Editor's Note: Ann Curry's full report airs Thursday, Nov. 29, at 10pm/9CDT on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Additional Resources:
Organizations Featured in Our Report
Interfaith Hospitality Network
Government Organizations
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Homeless Resource Exchange
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
Homeless Advocacy Groups
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Leave a Comment:
Akways, Always pay your rent first! Everything else comes second!
Well, food has to come first or you will die. All you "know it alls", just wait until life throws too many curves at you. Good luck!
No - Rent comes first! You can get food at a soup kitchen, but as far as I know - no church will pay your rent. Mortgage/rent FIRST - PERIOD - END OF STORY! Everyting else is small potatoes compared to this. This paradigm has kept me in a house and fed for 42 years. The rent is everything.
The assumptions, judgements and complete lack of empathy for a family hit by hard times written by so many of you is what is sad about this story.
Probably young people who don't know what it is to have hard times and think they are above it all. Their time will come and they will finally learn compassion for themselves and for others. I see most of it as immaturity.
Lets hope...
What a world we live in nowadays...
"The world is a suicide club"
All the comments about health insurance.
Medical care is not free. Research and development that have brought so many good things to this country's health system is crazy expensive and those of us who work in healthcare are not "volunteers" and also need to make a living. Aside from insurance company "profits" healthcare workers also need salary, benefits etc. which also cost employers money.
All of us foot the bill when you want that second MRI, better drug for your diagnosis, or a Dr. appointment that has to be today.
So if the health care industry in this country can't do for us in a way that we can afford, deregulate medical trade and let other countries import less expensive medications and medical care into this country. Let people go to Cuba to get treatment for conditions that the health care industry in this country fails miserably to address in a cost-effective manner. Since deregulation seems to be the latest craze for the rich, let what's good for the goose be good for the gander, I'm sure that the capitalist laws of competition and supply/demand could also serve to make the fat-cat insurance, pharma and hospital industries in this country serve up their best game.
I agree with you kpcoach!
Medical care is not a right, it's what can be afforded. I don't believe in a single payer medical system. That would be a monopoly and monopolies are bad for consumers in general. Great for a few, but extremely bad for the rest.
Medical professionals deserve to earn money as well. Unfortunately it can make medical care expensive and unaffordable to some. But most expense is not the care providers, it's due to regulations and lawsuits. Jury awards have exceeded 10 million dollars, which means doctors have to carry insurance that exceeds that limit. It's very expensive and is passed on to consumers through higher fees.
JOMO you are free to go to any country you wish for medical care. However, importation of medications without proper quality controls would cause more damage to our medical system. Less regulation would probably help, but complete deregulation was cause more problems and ultimately more deaths.
Next Ayn Rand Republican that starts to bray in my face about trickle-down economics, tax breaks for the rich, deregulating labor and trade, my patriotic duty and how this is the land of opportunity, I'm going to knock his front teeth out.
Probably how most of those Ayn Rand Republicans feel about Bleeding Heart Liberals as yourself. You feeling that you have an inalienable right to someone else's hard earned money to give to someone else that has likely made poor decisions in life. Just ludicrous!
As one of those Ayn Rand Republican's I can say I do believe in helping those that cannot help themselves. But I disagree with the methods employed by Democrat's to provide that help. And again it's only to those that cannot help themselves, not those that are unwilling to help themselves. The problem is the current system doesn't distinguish between the two which has bloated the system.
I've worked construction or a construction-related trade all of my life, and paid enough taxes to have tided me over for the rest of it if I'd have been allowed to invest that money. That I know of, I was never allowed a tax break because anything I did could have trickled-down in any way, nor was I allowed to be bailed out by the government when my welding supply business went into red ink, nor was I ever given a no-bid contract by any government good-ole-boy friends, or allowed insider trading on any type of stock. I would have rather seen my tax money invested in a tech lab in some inner-city school than have it given to Halliburton for them to cheat our servicemen who were fighting a war based on a lie for that stupid pr!ck in the White House because Saddam Hussein "tried to kill his daddy." You Republicans are always making two sets of rules, you talk the talk, but in practive you walk as crooked as a drunken monkey. You pander to the bible-thumpers with your intolerant rhetoric, but you hide your gay children and pregnant teenage daughters from the public eye. You preach fiscal responsibility, but you kowtow to corrupt lobbyists and hard-sell inefficient and failed military equipment to favor your sweetheart contractor friends. You besmirch and vilify illegal immigrants, but your construction companies and food processing plants are full of them. You talk about productivity, but many of you have hands as soft as silk and could not wield a sledgehammer or concrete hose to save your lives. I've had enough of this bullsh!t, and by the results of this past election, it seems that so have many other people.
Random -
Very sad for you! Do you really think this is the first time this nation has faced troubled times? Don't be so negative. America will get through this, but it will take all of us being compassionate and assisting those who need help through it. Then, that help will be there when and if we need it. It is called "paying it forward" and "what goes around comes around." It truly works. Your negativity however, will help nothing.
U mad?
They are all obese. What a shocker.
Poor diet and over eating = overweight = Kidney failure = medical bills = no rent money.
There is no reason for America to pay for obese people. He just needs to look in the mirror and see the problem and who caused it.
There are people out there that have REAL problems that weren't their fault that need help.
I've heard a lot of big talk from people like you over the years, they live good because they work for a good-ole-boy network in their home town and the world is their oyster while they feel like a million bucks, but when they get sick or hurt bad and their doctor tells them that their insurance won't cover half of the humongous bill that they'll face, their families will be the first ones putting little begging jars with their sorry faces at all the mom-and-pops, local schools, supermarket check-out aisles and bars that will let them, they'll even beg for a spot on the local news, bald-faced and teary, because now the shoe is on the other FOOT.
What recession are they referring to? The media has said over and over that the recession was over 3 years ago.
The part I'm wondering about is why didn't they file bankruptcy? I know that sounds really bad but that's one of the great things about this country ... we have laws and a court system to help people in these kind of situations get back on their feet. They'll have to pay back the student loans but maybe something could have been done about the medical bills? Living with a bankruptcy on your credit report is far better then being homeless!
Bankruptcy isn't always a solution. It won't do a damn thing for me as I really don't have any credit card debit (two and they've long gone into collections). Depends on the debt.
Query,
About 30 years ago, on one of those investigative programs about world-wide health care, they showed that people in the US could fly first class to Thailand, have a mini suite in state of the art hospitals, US trained doctors and staff and time from recovery, for less cost than what it would cost US medical treatment.
Anyone know if this is still available with those amenities and relative costs?
If so, maybe we'd be better off with this, instead of anything that our government would attempt. Too many palms getting greased.
Yes get a 3 bedroom let the girls share a room. Most kids do. The only thing that bothered me is the girl crying ..Already I see a child who is depressed and has a weight problem that need not be. Regardless of material situations the kids would be stable if the parents keep calm and are not crying all the time over what they don't have . You can appreciate and be glad to be alive ..Teach your kids that by example. She is crying like it was the end of the world. Is her mom or dead dead? Is she starving on the streets? be thankful. Wonder where thier parents live? sisiters, aunts uncles, cousins?? Is there no family that wants them living with them? and why? Regardless, ..If could happened to any of us realize your life, heart and soul are worth more than the stuff and the house . see the goodness of the people tha thave helped and dont believe the lie that your life is over just because you had to give up material C**P .
When I was young, my "bedroom" was a wide spot in the upstairs hall. My three half-brothers shared a room with our mentally retarded uncle (who was so low-functioning that he couldn't say any actual words and could otherwise barely dress and feed himself) while our half-sister had her own room.
working & still homeless....and worse yet, imagine, you have a lease on your apt, you pay up to date, and suddenly, you get a note on your door you have to vacate. What happened? Owner of building, went bust, collected as much as he can, and then went into foreclosure, the bank Fanny Mae, reposessed the property with 10 minutes, as oppossed to usual 5 day notice for non payment. Now suddenly, you have no access to minimun higiene, you are on the street, and for the most part I was up to date, and when I 've received a visit from the "pusher realty" stated I can negotiate "cash for keys" for almost a full month I ve tried, to reach, only to realized that they given me a run around,which I discover when they stated, I should have contact them earlier, prior to the visit from the "pusher" out of the apt. Yes I held a job, which I could no longer attend, in deplorable conditions. Furthermore, Fanny Mae, which its charter is to protect this exact thing from happening. Now, I am battling with an eviction on record, for which I had absolutely nothing to do.
I can battle the information record, yet first I have to survive, eat and find keep a place, and at 62 is quite a task without a steady job. In the process I lost my pets also, being turned into animal control. A complete disaster in implementation, the realtor, who manage for the bank, send me to another realtor to "negotiate" however, throughout the whole time still @ the apt, this negotiator was a dead end. I think they are the keepers of the cash for keys, and push everyone out to the street and come out with a move that neither side can see where the money goes but these "pushers realtors" themselves.
And with these negotiators being in the middle of it, what else could happen?
Furthermore, the embarrasment you suffer, when you need to do a change of address at work and have to tell, you do not have one. They think you gone bananas and for the most part, believe in the middle of such a transaction, you do.
With no where to turn, but keep silent, about yourself, washing on fast food restaurants, and try to keep food in a cooler, constantly purchasing ice, so you do not spend a fortune eating "out" ( you already out). I read the regulations, laws, and conditions. All make sense, Is in the implementation, that everything comes out later than it should, there is no compassion for you, at least I think they found a place for my animals. Yet, whoever implement this type of action, He or she, is animal too. So, yes, Had my job, yet homeless, once they found out. You are a stranger to them at work.
SORRY R they don't care! It's easy to make statements about other people's circumstances when you got your hate on for the black man in the White House & as you can see even though the GRAND THEFT OCCURRED on their parties watch they still have to blame others!
I am so tired of these small petty fights when the facts are CLEAR PEOPLE - WE are the targets & no amount of hiding behind your associated skin color or party line is going to help ya! The HIT on the middle class started over thirty years ago & it hasn't stopped!
& with people like the voter suppression cheats & the gerrymandering losers of the right stoking up their bigoted co-horts WE will never get a head because they do not care about anything other than their race-baiting corn porn BS & as long as their troll like following see themselves as betters within their BS WE have to fight doubly hard as they hang on to the GOD of IGNORANCE & WE all suffer - their stupid behinds included!
R don't give up or in - keeping fighting & working!
This is OUR NEW NORMAL! In 2009 WE were made aware of the depth of betrayal from people who at present are calling US something other than neighbor or citizen. WE have some of US pretending that they agree & understand what these "leeches" are saying! Since the late 1970's WE the people (who float this country more so than anyone who pulls jobs from US or money in secret accounts, those who went to Washington (without big bucks) to represent the people who now only represent themselves or those who pay them to be harlots of business) have been losing our rights, protections & liberties by leaps & bounds. Our representatives are making pledges to LOBBYIST & Business& doing everything possible to turn US into the workers of old prior to the gains made THROUGH BLOOD, SWEAT & DEATH!
The couple here are not alone & it doesn't even take into account the many more who had retirement plans & 401K's that derivatives & the greedy just majorly devastated - there are many, many reasons why some are struggling & others are not far away from it! They stole from US all on a grand scale & have yet to pay for it or pay it back, yet they have the nerve to demand MORE!
Goldmann & Sachs president says that this is what WE deserve - all those individuals in the House are saying - this is what WE deserve; to struggle (esp. those who have worked most of their lives & can barely make it with medical bills, taking care of elderly/disabled parents, kids or relatives) THIS IS OUR NEW NORMAL & they think it's GREAT!
The comments regarding Health care here are as stupid as the person(s) making them & God help you that you do not find out - oh that's right you are less likely to be in the position of the President's mother or these fine people NOW! & for those who know that Obama-care is helping many today (including my autistic grandson) as many more may have been closer to finding themselves (if not homeless) as close to it as the couple here!
All these empty houses (some illegally foreclosed on through the illegal mills that these banks formed to force people out of homes - these banks who made over $200 Trillion dollars from 2006 through 2009 & then got more money in a bailout - WHERE IS OUR BAILOUT??? & I don't mean a coulple of income tax refund checks or even some tired tax extension for the middle class! ) that they will never be able to sell (owned by those who took advantage on a grand scale) that sit empty - BECAUSE????
& even with the charities there are those who take advantage there too - money meant for the homeless is being spent on other things: admin cost or just being stolen & having the homeless in some circumstances give them a percentage of their small (min. wage) salaries somethings as much as 30% to 35% - how do you get out from under there???
This is OUR NEW NORMAL & I hope all those asinine individuals who think they speak truth about WE who were robbed and then blamed for leaving the store open are the first to go in the Colosseum games or the hunger game scenarios that the Richie-rich have planned for US who couldn't steal everything not nailed down or who didn't have the inside track on the theft (in the first place) or the criminal element that aren't being forced to pay back what they stole.....
Most people that have found themselves on hard times got there by living above their means. Trying to live a champagne life style on a beer drinkers budget. As for medical bills, hospitals will work with you and set up a payment plain that fits your budget, even if its $10.00 a month. And there are jobs out there. I counted over 100 companies needing truck drivers in todays paper alone!
BS & unless you can prove said same allegations YOU SHOULDN'T BE MAKING THEM!
When I received a hospital bill for $14,000, I called their "charity" line. They offered payments of nearly $300 per month - at over 12% interest!
That's "working" with me?
This is truely sad.
31.9 million Americans receiving food stamps when Obama took office.
47.1 million American are receiving food stamps today.
The record high increase is 15.2 million more Americans receiving food stamps than when Obama took the oath of office.
73,007 Americans on an average week were added to the food stamps rolls. That is telling you what happened to all those American who have been dropping off the unemployment rolls since 2009. If they did find jobs, most of the jobs they found didn't pay enough for the people to be self sufficient.
That's not job growth by any standard, but it is an indication that this country has been condemned to suicide by Obama with Obama's reelection.
Yes and too bad the Republican obstructionists in the House prevented any jobs bills from seeing the light of day just so they could try to make Obama a "one and done" or the Norquists pledgers who would refuse any bill that would increase taxes on the wealthy or face a funds and support cut off at the ballot box. Do they work for the American people, Norquist, or themselves?
Too Bad Reid refuses to put any Republican job Bills on the Senate floor.
The only tax activity on the rich was in 2010 when Obama push for and got the Bush taxes cuts to the rich extended so he would be pay less in taxes. So much for him getting on national TV and telling the nation he wanted to pay higher taxes.
Its sinful how gullible you Obama supporters are, but its also amusing that in your ignorance about the man you support you make yourselves look like fools.
Hey Ellen and Oprah, how about stepping up to the plate on this one and giving them a new house and a new car and $20,000 in cash??
Instead of grandstanding on how much good you do, step up to the plate and give it to this all American family that really needs it?
They may not appear to be the all American family, but they are exactly typical of millions of families just like them all across the USA, in the situations they are in because our government is so corrupt, the wall street pieces of pig garbage that caused this are not going to do anything to help out, the corrupt government of the USA is not going to do anything about helping this family, how about one of you two stepping up to the job?
all of us will get sick and die someday but lets take personal responsibility for what we can do for ourselves now!!! Eat right, exercise and rest so that these doctors and their prescriptions don't take what little $ we have.
It doesn't matter if you have health insurance anymore. You still end up owing more than you can pay. Even if your insurance has a modest deductible. Also you don't just have one bill when you are hospitalized, you wil have 3 or 4 bills, all wanting their money now. Doctors and hospitals charges are so inflated to try to get more out of the insurance companies but they don't seem to care that what the insurance doesn't pay, the patient has to. Ever had a two hour test in the hospital that cost $23,000.00 plus? I have. Insurance paid not even half. And that wasn't including the doctors charges, lab charges, and radiology charges. It's very hard to work with most hospitals about their charges, they want the bill paid within 6 months and it doesn't matter how high the bill is. Doctors will quit seeing you if you don't pay them. So what are you supposed to do? Sometimes it comes down to you pay a little bit to each one of the medical bills (like $10.00 or something) each month, and pay your house payment or rent until you can do something different. I feel for these people. They were probably caught between a rock and a hard place and just couldn't make ends meet no matter how hard they tried. If you haven't been there, don't judge.
This is a good example why a few things need to happen....
1) Everyone that can remember to give something to a charity this holiday season. It may hurt this year, but not as much as it will benefit someone else.
2) Instead of providing across the board single payer medical coverage, allow hospitals to submit case by case basis non-payment accounts. Let the IRS or someone else look at each case and either subsidize the bill for those who truly need it, or collect for those who are gaming the system.
3) Take the advice of the top 1000 employers in the US, and let's say 1000 random small business owners. Start generating more jobs and more competition.
4) Get serious with China and India and any other country sucking jobs overseas. The status quo is a dead end road. If we are branded isolationists - so what. Protect people at home rather than stockholders. This problem is hitting EVERYONE - even people in the medical field as nurses are being brought over from abroad rather than trained in the US. Don't even get me started with technology sector or call centers. As for the price of goods, this Christmas just wait and see if Americans slow down even a TINY bit on spending. Maybe we need a little inflation to pay for US only labor.
It says he's making $35,000/year which would mean take home is about $1000 every 2 weeks. The thing about medical bills, which a lot of people don't know, is that you don't HAVE to pay them off... You should of course, but they aren't allowed to take your car, your house, or anything if it's medical related bills you owe... just don't pay them or do it at your own pace and so what if you keep getting collection calls. It's not like owing a credit card or house payment because they can't do anything to you. I would hope they could find something for $2000/month and I don't believe they really need a 4 bedroom apartment...if they can only afford a 3 bedroom apartment, then it's living above their means, and let the church give the grant to someone else that needs it more.
Being from a medical family - I can tell you JDOE11's comment is spot on. While any hospital administrator or doctor would argue with this point, few can offer a rational explanation for putting 3 kids on the street prior to paying off the hospital bill. This family (from what I can tell from the article) made at least one bad choice. Rent comes FIRST - before anything else. A roof over your 3 kid's heads and heat may very well prevent one of your kids from ending up in the E.D.
If you don't make payments on a hospital bill. They will take you to court. They will get a judgement against you. They will take it out of your pay if your working. At least, That's how it is in my state.
Yeah I know - but a bank will forclose. A renter will evict. It simply affords you more options and a more sympathetic court.
It's not a question of not paying your bill - that is wrong - PERIOD. It is a question of deferring your payment. Most hospitals will do this as long as you are making monthly payments - at least in Texas.
What universe do you live in where you think you cannot be sued (and have a judgement against you) for medical bills? It's simply not true. Medical bills are not some sort of special magic fairy debt that is immune from collection attempts. You CAN be sued and your assets or wages can be garnished. Please don't spread completely untrue information.
Joe Scatone - I am not saying that you cannot be sued. However, everyone in my family is a medical professional (back 3 generations) in Texas and I can tell you - good luck with that lawsuit. Most hospitals will opt for an agreed upon payment plan. It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a judgement against someone who can demonstrate financial hardship much less someone with 3 kids who is homeless. Getting sued and getting a judgement against you are two completely different things. However, getting evicted is not so unheard of. I guess the courts seem to view landlords as more of a victim than hospitals - go figure...
LOL - to answer your question - the universe I live in is Texas - hahaha, and I know this is true for both the Baylor Health Care System across texas and Parkland Hospital (the largest public hospital in the state and one of the largest in the nation).
Now - I want to be careful to state that you cannot just write off a medical bill any more than you can an education loan - they WILL come after you eventually. However, you can bet that your landlord will be knocking on the door about 30 days later where medical bills and education loans can be dragged out over more time.
Joe Scatone - I do not think I am spreading mis-information. I would not presume to do that with such an important topic.
Reading the first comment - JDOE11 - this is not accurate. Eventually, you WILL get a judgement against you, as far as I know, in ANY state (including Texas). You REALLY need to show an honest attempt to pay your bill within your means - even for a medical bill.
Besides, even if you do not have your wages garnished, credit is EVERYTHING these days (just try renting with a score of 500) and you will see what I mean. Credit is only un-important if you are not applying for a good job, not moving, already own your home, and have no risk of appliances going bad or natural disasters striking. (or you have about $50,000 in the bank). The hopsital WILL hit your credit in a heartbeat, and personally, I would rather have ANYTHING happen to me than that. I have been down that road and it is not pretty.
Once your credit is ruined you have NO backup plan at all. This is pretty much the end of the road, and the risk of homelessness goes WAY up.
Sorry Joe Scatone - technically you are right. My point was only in prioritizing and trying to buy some time.
@summmero. Courts don't consider ability to pay when awarding a Judgement. It's irrelevant. Either the defendent owes the money or does not. Whether or not he can pay is a collection matter. If Courts considered ability to pay then anybody who owed money would just hide it. Also, not being able to pay today doesn't mean you won't ever be able to pay, and judgements last for years. (and can be renewed).
Standupjokeoff, you are wrong,about credit being important. i dont purchase things on credit other than my car loan. other than that i have no use for this credit score thing. thats part of Americas problem is the younger generation is so dependant on credit. If you cant purchase it with cash you dont need it. as for medical bills, those suckers can push off and wait for there money. live within your means. words to live by.
This may be the dumbest advice I have ever heard. I have had credit affect my employment, my search for an apartment, even my personal relationships. Your credit rating today is almost a stamp of acceptance for society today. It can even affect your personal relationships. Anyone suggsting otherwise is living in fantasy land, or is sitting on such a large nest egg that credit is not an issue.
My advise - Protect your credit AT ALL COSTS. It may save you in dark times. Don't rely on it (which is possibly what this poster was trying to say) but don't ignore it either. My credit has saved me at the most unusual times (death of a family member half a continent away - when I needed to "borrow" money to make the funeral). Do not take your credit score for granted. It may not get you out of forclosure, but it can help you get out of some bad spots.
Insurance companies are starting to jump on the credit score bandwagon. Do you really want to take a chanc that your premiums for car insurance and homeowners insurance are greatly increased due to a poor credit rating?
Unfortunately, these people were in a difficult situation.
"If you can't purchase it with cash, you don't need it." Sure, I'll remember that next time a tooth falls out, or I get an infection in my mouth. Without credit to pay for such emergencies, your health and your life are at risk.
Credit IS critical in today's society. You can be denied certain jobs if you have bad/low credit. If you're in the military, this is one of the things that can endanger your enlistment. When I left, I was in a separation class with a group of individuals also leaving the military. One was a young man, 21, whose wife accidentally bounced a check at the NEX; the NEX (rather stupidly) ran the check through twice, even though both she and the husband told them not to. This ruined their financial state because the money wasn't in the account for either attempt, and he was separated from the service as a result of that incident.
I'm a single woman 40, I have two children. This has just happend to me. My world is falling apart, the stress of not knowing where to go and not having a home to go to. This is is an all time low that I would not wish upon anyone. So, now when I go to work I feel as if I'm on the edge of losing that as well. All you want is a home of your own to protect your children! Bad things happen to good people, I am proof of that.
So sorry to hear your going to a rough time. Wish I could help. Here's a (HUG).
I'm a divorce single mom, I know where your coming from. It's not easy. It makes you feel helpless.
And your family members are not helping you out why???????????
I am just curious (this is not a slam in ANY way - just trying to understand) - how can you get internet access if you are so distressed that you may lose your home?
One of my first "cut backs" would be my 245$ U-Verse bill with AT&T (cell phones, internet access, Cable etc..)
I just don't understand how you can even be posting if things are THAT bad. But admittedly - I am not in your shoes so maybe there is something that I don't understand. I would like to understand because this could happen to ANY of us, and I want to know what may be in store.
I'm with you too. And all this hate on the blog is rather sad. {{HUGS}}
I TOTALLY echo Keepinmyheadabovetheh2o 's comment - this is not the topic to be bad mouthing ANYONE. If you are doing that - god help you because you have no soul and you are an SOB. Anyone with children should understand this.
But I would like to understand how things go from "bad" to "worse" from a financial standpoint.
As for your predicament, I hope that you find the help this season that you need to "dig out" of your hole. Were I a business owner, you would be getting a phone call today.
Internet access is a neccessity especially if you are looking for a job. If things got really bad I would cut out cable and smartphone (just have an emergency one) before Internet.
I know first hand, You can't always count on family members for help.
No way could I count on family to help me. A lot of them are dead. The parents, both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and a few cousins. The cousins that are still living. Their living pay check to pay check. In small one bedroom apartments. And already have other people living with them.
Good point Joe Scatone - I guess I would do the same. My bad.
Internet with Verizon is approx.$50 per month in MD. I have what's called the Dry Loop. Were your only using the phone line for the internet. I got rid of the phone or cable long time ago.
Afterv ObamaCare take hold,they will be back in the same hole.They will have to choose between paying $10,000 per year for care or having his wife quit work to reduce their income to the poverty level ,thereby exempting from payments.There will be a lot of pissed off people when OC takes effect! People think everything is going to be swell and they are not going to pay a dime! WRONG!Someone will pay and the current method is to have anyone in the top 53% of working stiffs to pay for everything.The 47% plus all the illegal aliens are exempted from having to pay.I can hardly wait to see the lines in San Diego when that monstrosity take hold.There will be ten of thousands of Mexicans applying for a 3 day visa to come across the border to get all the medical hwlp they can crame into their time.If medical emergency precludes them from leaving,they will be exempt from leaving.When and if they do leave,we will be stuck with their bill.That is me and everone else who actually pays taxes.I'm going to do what everyone else does.I'm quitting my job,taking my social security,hiding my assets and living off the governemnt for ever!