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:
The new America....working and still homeless. How sad is this country!!
I just put a lock on my grand daughter lunch box. She's in third grade and kids are going to school hungry and stealing other kids lunches. That is sad.
This is exactly why we are trying to get healthcare reform passed!!! I now live in Canada and I keep getting the same question when they find out I am from the US, and that is - why in the world are so many Americans against providing affordable healthcare for its citizens. Sadly, I can only shake my head and say that there is just a lot of very uninformed people that have not taken the time to get educated on the facts. I am continuously amazed at how well it works up here and how well it is loved by the vast majority of Canadians.
ObamaUnCare will ony make it worse. Sadly, more of these cases are going to be happening this coming year & beyond as more and more Employers switch Full-Time employees to Part-Time Employees as complying with a the regulations of ObamaUnCare becomes way too expensive. Obamanomics is causing a lot of homeless working poor & making it even worse making it much more expensive to hire fulltime employees, so Employers instead are resorting to hiring part-time.
yep. thats why i see so many canadians coming here for health care. national health care doesnt work. never has never will.
Sorry - lie all you want but I am up here and talking to real Canadians who don't travel to the US for healthcare. Completely wrong!
@Kurt - you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! Stop watching Fox and educate yourself!
The U.S. is 27th in the world in quality of health care.
27th!
Americans should be proud to live in the greatest country on earth, but we are 27th in health care.
WOW - The ignorance is astounding.
Buckeye, you are the one without a clue, You are asking me to "Stop watching Fox" while on the NBC Comment Boards!!!! Now, that IS CLUELESS.
Of course, no laughing matter for the millions of Americans who will be losing FULL Time Jobs for Part Time jobs or none at all (some already have) due to ObamaUnCare.
I live on the American side of the border with Canada and it's interesting to see so many Canadians coming to the American side for simple things like an MRI or knee surgery that they can't get in Canada or have to wait a year or more to get there.
wwwhhhhheeeeeeeeee
Amazed at the people who don't understand how this could happen to a hard working family. It happens everyday. My niece and her husband are both active duty Navy and, while he is serving overseas, she and the baby couldn't eat without food stamps that they easily qualified for. THAT is how the military says thank you to our soldiers. She says most of her base is on food stamps. My Aunt works 30 hours/wk at WAL-MArt (for EIGHT YEARS) so they can keep her from getting benefits and even though she does back breaking work, they only eat because of food stamps. All of the family members I have mentioned are hard working and intelligent people with a lot of gumption but still they barely survive. Meanwhile corporate America whines and snivels over paying WHAT THEY OWE to the IRS and fat cats are getting fatter. It can happen to you and yours in a heartbeat folks!
Renee,
Its easy to say they can't eat without food stamps, but its not true. I bet they live off base and have many other expenses that they do not need. They are just another example of people not living within their means. As for your aunt, she should get a better job. Working in those conditions, she has only herself to blame. As for the fatcats, I agree that they do not pay anywhere close to what they should. I think that most all deductions should be eliminated. A flat tax would make the whole industry more efficient.
Should not have gotten married and had a kid if you cannot afford it.
As for Walmart worker, well if you can't live on what they are paying you go to school get an education and get a better job. Everyone is not entitled to high pay just because they have a job!. Walmart should be a temporary place to work at best and not a career choice. Also why did your nephew get married and have kids if he could not afford it. You make the bed you are in people.
First of all, Renee, military pay is decided by CONGRESS, not the military. Second, when I was in the Navy, I did some time as a Navy Relief Society loan officer and you'd be amazed at the things people applying for loans were spending their money on. Third, businesses (like Wal-Mart) exist to make money, not to provide your aunt with health insurance or other benefits. She should be glad she even has a job - there are so many Americans who don't have one today.
What we do not need are more shelters, Mr. President. What we need are more jobs!!!!
Gregovich, Obama doesn't give a damn. He's a Reagan democrat - a democrat who thinks and acts like a republican.
Thank God for their church subsidizing their rent. I hope they enjoy their new apartment. If they waited for Obama to help them, they'd spend the rest of their lives in shelters.
The church should give something back for their subsidized rent. They really should be taxed like everyone else.
The government should not be helping them! They should be helping themselves!
After several heart problems, a quadruple by pass, an ICD Defibulator implant and several other procedures, after what the insurance and medicare paid were paying off about $10,000.00 in hospital and dr bills. Why? Well if your with a practice that have several doctors in it, they all have to stop in and have a few words and after the two minutes they are there you can hear the cash register cakling as there walking. A one day procedure turned into five days and the dr that did the original procedure and ran into problems, never showed his face the rest of the time my husband was in the hospital. The reports that were filed and what we were told were different and we went to a different practice. Found out what the first dr said was wrong and they had done stints on three valves versus the only one he said. This after seeing another doctor at a different practice. When he was discharged the doctor we hadn't seen all week told him at his age having his first heart attack he is lucky. Look at his records this was the fourth one. Co-pays to see a specialist are out of reach. I my self need to see one, but you know it will take several visits but at $62.00 co pay and they want to see you 4-5 times, Ibuprofin is cheaper. Medicine. One prescription is $150.00 the other is $1.48. How is this? Were lucky were not in the position this family is in, but the so called good senior years aren't as great as we expected.
the reason the price is different on the pills is the cheaper one is now an older drug and is generic. pharmacy companies spend Billions and often after 20 yrs of research to bring a drug to market. the only way to recoup is to charge higher prices at first. It sucks but if they cannot recoup the investment then there will be no more wonder drugs. lawsuit reform will also help bring prices down
I also think health care is too expensive, that is why I try to eat healthy, excersize and watch my weight. I try to get my health checked regurlarly and change my behavior if the doctor tells me something is wrong. Too many people wait till after they have the heart attack to change thier lives. God Bless.
The problem here is the United States Government would rather worry about other countries and aiding them instead of aiding it's own. Housing could be built or bought for people in this type of problem. Look at the many military bases closed and left to rot which could have become housing for homeless. When we truly get someone in the White House that cares about America and not themselves or self image then these people will no longer be homeless. Until then it will continue to happen.
Billions of dollars going out to other countries in foreign aid and our folks here in the U.S. can't make ends meet. How screwed up is Washington.
What some of you don't seem to realize is that medical bills can be setup as payments with the providers, especially hospital bills, and you can set that payment so you can afford it and it will NOT affect you credit rating. So they should have done this, then continued paying the rent while making small payments on the medical. No matter how small the payment is, they cannot turn it over to collection as long as you keep up on the payments. I have friends that didn't have health insurance when their last child was born. They setup a payment of something like $50 per month for the hospital, and just finished paying it off and the child is now 13. Their credit wasn't affected and they continued paying for their house, utilities, etc. You have to be smart in today's world. Don't neglect one bill to pay another - all it usually takes is a few phone calls to get things changed so you can afford it until you get back on your feet. People are too quick to blame someone else for their problems.
Myself, I have had only one raise, like 2%, in my pay in the last 3 years. But in that time I've gone from paying $0 for my employer health insurance to $300 per month for it. Plus my utility bills and grocery bills have all gone up quite a bit. So my net take-home pay has gone down. But all I did is get smarter in how I bundle my utilities, cut back where I can, cut down on going out to eat, and now find myself with a house that is less than 2 years from being paid for, 2 newer cars, a 2008 and 2010, both paid for, and more money in the bank, my child's college account and my retirement accounts than I have ever had in my life. I am not rich by any means, but I know how to take charge of my own finances and manage them properly. This is what most people don't seem to have a clue how to do. They just want to continue spending on luxuries like expensive cell phone plans, super high speed internet and cable, etc. because people seem to consider these necessary in today's world. Grow up people - These things are LUXURIES! try simplifying and see what good can come of it.
fral,
That is very good information and very good points. Well done.
It's true that most of us are only a paycheck or two away from homelessness. Even the most careful of planners can be blindsided by medical bills. I've always thought that there should be a cap on how much can be charged for medical procedures, as well as how much blood can be expected to be gotten from a turnip when it comes to people who are faced with these outrageous expenses.
No, its not true. You only hear about the people that don't plan, not the ones that do. Med bills can be deferred. I do believe that medical cost are too high, but most don't understand that the people who do pay are subsidizing those that can't pay ALREADY. National health care free for all is a logical course of action with the only thing to figure out is proper implementation.
Rent in Johnson City, TN for a 3 bedroom is about $700/month. Check Craigslist. Some cost more, some less. Even if the combined earnings of the family came to $20/hour, i.e. $40k/yr, netting about $32k/yr, conservatively, they should be able to pay $5k/yr in rent. BK out of the medical bills. I'm a landlord, and even if you're in bankruptcy you can find a way to rent. Something's off about this story. Let's see the family's income and a breakdown of the debts.
I have litereally been bought to tears over this. Wow! I'm grateful that it has turned into a happy ending and I pray that they are truly back on their feet within those 5 years. Amazing story.
Really? You bought into the sympathy angle without thinking it through and think it is a happy ending? Wow.
The only way they will succeed is to declare bankruptcy and then live within their means.
Sadly, more of these cases are going to be happenning this coming year & beyond as more and more Employers switch Full-Time employees to Part-Time Employees as complying with a the regulations of ObamaUnCare becomes way too expensive. Obamanomics is causing a lot of homeless working poor & making it even worse making it much more expensive to hire fulltime employees, so Employers instead are resorting to hiring part-time.
That is a poorly reasoned argument. If they companies are making money off their employees, they will work them as much as they can. They might see a reduction in pay, but good workers will ALWAYS be utilized to their potential by any good company seeking to maximize profits. Even the highest taxed countries have companies that are profitable and have well paid employees.
What a selfish reply, "poorly reasoned argument". Easy for YOU to say so long as YOU are not one of the employees losing their Full time status for Part time status or NO job status due to ObamaUnCare. Mrrationalthought, you should show more compassion towards our great workers trying to earn a living being shortchanged due to the Overregulation of ObamaUnCare.
I am not overly religious but there for the grace of God goes I. I am ashamed to live in a country where you work full time and cannot live on what you earn. As a country we have lost compassion and replaced it with what can I get. Thank God the church is practicing what it preaches. I am going to send this to my elected officials I hope others do too.
Everyone can live on what they earn. Just don't spend more than you make. See, wasn't that easy?
Gee, try telling the Spendaholic/Taxaholic Obama that "just don't spend more than you make". He insistance of 4 (likely will be 8) OVER $1 Trillion "Budget" Deficits shows for Obama it is only words NOT to be followed.
They seem to be eating good.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, the beginning of a long spiral downward for the US. When honor, loyalty, god and country come last and your pocketbook comes first this is the end result. If you didnt know it I am referring to corruption, and if you don't think you are corrupt, think again. We are all to blame.
in 1965 lyndon johnson started the war on poverty. i quote him directly if we pass this we will have the n**ers voting democrat for eternity. Well 2012 proved that people will still vote for the santa claus president. housing costs are high because of ridiculous pension payouts to the unions. When property taxes are 4000.00 a year its hard to achieve affordable housing. There is special funding for kidney dialysis from ss. the only requirement is that you need dialysis. no income or means testing is required. We are facing times like now for 5 very important reasons.1. we have stopped being gods children.2. unions have killed the jobs.3 government is strangling us with taxes and regs. 4. too many people arent willing to work and have chosen the government handouts.5. we are being overrun by illegal aliens gaming our system. Government healthcare isnt the answer. its the problem. even with obamacare there will be 200 million without coverage. the answer to the whole problem is living a moral life that includes personal responsibility.
I will respond to your points:
1: Silly argument, as secular countries are the most financially secure. Get rid of the fairy tales.
2: Unions have hurt some jobs and benefitted others. Unions provide better paying jobs, its just that not all jobs deserve better pay.
3: This country is one of the lowest for tax rates.
4: Agreed
5: Yes. If companies were fined and people jailed for hiring illegals, the problem would end.
The family does appear to have a weight problem, do they dine out a lot? How about money management counseling? I wish them the best!
What's your point? I'm overweight and I eat 2 meals a day. I drink tea and diet soda, and NO snacks. Are you saying that they spend all of their earnings frivolously? I'd like to see you manage your way out of an upside down mortgage, with no job, YOUR savings stolen and your emergency fund depleted. Put your money where your mouth is. If you're so much smarter, PROVE it. THEN...you can tell these people what THEY are doing wrong.
Just pointing out two things that could possibly get this family into trouble again, loosing another apartment. For example it costs an average of family of 5 to eat supper at McDonald's $25.00. You can get more for your money at the grocery store. Usually when people are down and out, there is usually many other circumstances that get you in this mess.
Not eating a healthy diet that's low in fat. Will make anyone gain weight. Whether they eating in or out.
Eating process foods is the worse. Not healthy but cheap to buy. People buy foods they can afford.
Proved: I have been without a job and lived off savings, and not unemployment. Learned how to work on my car when it was broke and better myself while I was unemployed.
If you are overweight, you eat too much. Bariatric surgery limits how much you can eat. People loose weight until they stretch their stomachs back out. Starving people are not fat. See the connection? You might think you don't eat too much, but you are.
An upside down mortgage has nothing to do with payments.
This is the misery that the avarice of the wealthiest and most dishonest people in America has brought us. They saw the equity in our homes, the balances in our retirement savings and they coveted it. The uncaring, corrupt, Republican politicians aided and abetted them and then laid the blame at the door step of the (then) incoming new President.
We always hear about the $780B bailout that the evil black socialist gave to the rich traitors who nearly wrecked the US economy just so they could steal more money than any group of people ever has in the entire history of the world. But you DON'T hear hardly anything at all about the previous $800B that good 'ol George "Dubba Yew" handed to those banker thieves on a silver platter, and you NEVER hear a word about the 16 TRILLION DOLLARS that the Federal Reserve ponied up to pay off the breathtakingly obscene losses created by these criminals.
And now an independent watchdog group based in Europe has put the total cost of the theft at a mind blowing 43 TRILLION dollars. I always thought it was the $27 trillion that was previously reported, but now I find out that it was much worse than even that.
That's why people like the Kennards are homeless. You can bet whatever emergency fund they had squirreled away was nowhere near the amount they would have needed to withstand 2-4 years of unemployment, plus the sudden plunge in their home's value relative to what they owed on it, or the massive losses their 401K's suffered when the Wall St. thieves cleaned out their accounts.
The perpetrators planned it flawlessly, The STOLE an amount of money that is beyond the scope of ANYTHING ever conceived in the history of the world, and now they've got their GOP politician shills out there selling "Personal Responsibility" and "Self Sufficiency". Well isn't THAT just the epitome of hypocrisy? Wouldn't be too bad a notion...except when it comes from lying, thieving SCUM who take no personal responsibility and rely on the very people they've just robbed to make financial amends for their misdeeds.
In short, these criminals believe that it's perfectly reasonable that they should be allowed to swindle and extract by deception (and make NO mistake that is EXACTLY what derivatives, Credit Default Swaps, whatever you want to call them...ARE) exorbitant amounts of money from the Financial system whenever they want to.
But regular, everyday working Americans shouldn't be given bailouts, or unemployment, or Social Security, or Medicare, Medicaid, or Obamacare benefits, because they're just a DRAG on the economy and make for "Big Government".
Well I've got news for these thieves AND their GOP b*tches. The "People" paid the money INTO these programs and "We the People" are for DAMNED sure NOT going to let those greedy @ss#oles steal that too. This greed and stealing (I don't know what else you'd call a bunch of liar loan mortgage securities bundled up and leveraged at 300%) is going to STOP, or else all Hell is going to break loose.
The Sheldon Adelsteins and Koch (is that pronounced "COCK" as in D*CK?) brothers of this world had better step off, because if they don't...well I doubt that their gated mansions will keep them very safe when the peasantry storm the joint with torches and pitchforks. this may sound quaint but I'm sure you get my drift.
What's been done to the Kennard's is a CRIME! Only in America could a swindle of this magnitude take place and the swindlers be allowed to walk away clean, no arrest, no punishment, NOTHING. And for people to blame the helpless victims who lost EVERYTHING because of it, is beyond unacceptable, it's downright blasphemous, and I for one won't tolerate it.
Now I'm gonna go out and try to WIN that big lottery jackpot, so I can help a few thousand of these families. Because UNLIKE the @ss#ole BILLIONAIRES who only care about stealing more and more money, I KNOW what the value of wealth truly is: it's only worth the amount of good that can be done with it.
James--both the Repubs and Demos are beholden to big business. Go back to 1999 with the passage of the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, and see how many Repubs and Demos voted FOR it. Part of that act rescinded the Glass - Steagall Act. The Glass - Steagall Act was passed in the 1930's to prevent the kind of abuses that caused the Great Depression. When I found out about that, it spoke VOLUMES to me--it was the straw that broke the camels back. Certainly not the only thing that has caused the mess we are in today, but it was the last in a long line of mistakes made.......Good luck with the lotto, but if you do win, beware of the negative changes it can bring to your life if you don't have a counterballance plan in place. Helping a few thousand families would be a really good start in a counterballance plan, BTW...:)
This is just ANOTHER example of how UN-USED Republican tax-breaks, for billionairres, are leading America DEEPER into this Great DEPRESSION.
When will these Republicans learn that they can lay kings ransoms, of "gifts" tax-breaks, at the feet, of the super-rich, but if the super-rich CHOOSE not to put people to work then the tax-breaks are USELESS!!!!
Commander11, lead by example, write a large check well BEYOND you Income Tax Rate to the Feds now. If not, then YOU are a hypocrite
Something vital is missing from this article. I can not understand who would choose to pay medical bills over rent that provides a home for your three kids. My co-worker suggested that maybe he had to pay the bills to continue to receive treatment.
So this why we need a housing recovery? So more working people can't afford to live in a house or apartment?
This is my concern as I age. That illness will cause me to loose everything. I have a terminal illness and I hope I die before incurring a plethora of debt.
I would have filed for bankruptcy before becoming homeless. Screw the medical bills. Not ideal, but for my kids I would have.
Been there, doing that! Why is there not more media attention for this on-going tragedy? Thankfully my husband is working again, but we are still homeless and living in a hotel after a year and a half. No kitchen, can't cook, can't decorate for the holidays, can't really have company. You don't know what it's like to miss even the simplest things, sleeping in your own bed, having a piece of toast in the morning, playing your instruments . . . Worse, there are children living in these hotels, children with no place to play, going to school from a tiny, family shared hotel room with no kitchen. It's not right!
If you are living in a hotel, you are making some really poor choices. There are MUCH cheaper ways to live. Have any savings? If not, you are doing it wrong. people can save no matter their income.