Family Living in Storage Unit

[katty]

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/family-sees-shame-fear-in_n_303537.html

As part of the Huffington Post's efforts to bear witness to the effects of the current economic environment on ordinary Americans, we're rounding up some of the most compelling stories reported by local news organizations around the country.

Bridget and Ed Robertson were a normal a middle-class couple from greater Phoenix, Arizona. Then, within just weeks of each other they were both laid off from jobs they'd had for years. Neither could get anything new despite hundreds of applications. They couldn't make their car payments or pay their rent. Soon, they found themselves homeless.

The Robertsons and their daughter, Sarah, were forced to move into a 12- by 25-foot storage unit supplied by a local community service organization, Save the Family Arizona, which kept them from going on the street. To make matters worse, Ed had a stroke in January, flooding the family with debt, and Bridget's father passed away recently, compounding the Robertsons' stress and anxiety.



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/family-sees-shame-fear-in_n_303537.html

[XanaDUer]

1. Well, ain't that America

Nt.

[Subdivisions]

11. For you and me...

Ain't that America
It's somethin' to see baby
Ain't that America
Home the free, yeah
Little Pink Storage Units for you and me

[Cleita]

2. Not that unusual. Twenty years ago, when I lived in Santa Monica, there were

families living in cars, garages and storage units. We haven't done anything about that in all this time. America was once a place where even the poor had access to shelter, but no more it seems.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Many cities are now basically criminalizing poverty

Las Vegas is one of the worst offenders. In many instances, there's really no place for homeless people to go without breaking some law.

The New York Times had an excellent op-ed on this months ago.

[Cleita]

15. Poverty is criminalized in many ways.

If you can't pay your bills, you are made into a criminal by default. Any one who has ever had a collection agency after them knows what I'm talking about.

[SoCalDem]

3. Most of us are a few paychecks away from homelessness

:(

[stray cat]

4. Almost 300 square feet - thats a studio in Manhattan going for 1000/month or more

[provis99]

12. you can find a place in Manhattan that cheap? Where?!

a crappy one-bedroom in Stuyvesant Village, a middle class high rise ghetto, would cost you $3,000/ month.

[intheflow]

17. When I was looking at apt. prices in NYC last year

I found a lot of places on Manhatten for $1K or under. Try looking outside of Brooklyn, SoHo, or the Upper West Side, up toward Inwood/Washington Heights.

[mdavies013]

5. "That's uniquely American"

[triple point]

10. Yes, the Japanese typically have much smaller digs.

...

[troubledamerican]

18. +1

[NoSheep]

22. +2

[kestrel91316]

6. When I retire I figure I will have enough money to buy an acre in the Midwest, put up a

portable backyard shed of sorts, and live in it. I can haul water and have a PV system, and get by. I need land for chickens and a garden and some fruit trees.

It's my fallback plan. And I may wind up eternally grateful to have THAT much.

It's not your father's USA anymore.......

[Jeep789]

8. Hey, that is my plan too.

Maybe we will be neighbors.

[kestrel91316]

14. I can show you how to make a really nifty sawdust bucket toilet that

is straight out of The Humanure Handbook.

My grandparents didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing on their ranch until 1972. Outhouse; well out back of the kitchen with hand pump; I can deal with stuff.

[Jeep789]

16. I'm looking forward to it. lol nt

[PJPhreak]

21. Doing that now...

We bought a 450 sq ft cabin on a 1/2 acre in east central Kansas for less than the price of a decent used car,And we LOVE it!!

The cabin is ratty,as most 80 year old structures in these parts tend to be,but the property is completely fenced for our dogs,has city services,(Water Sewer,Trash)is very well insulated,and most of the folk who live in our small town do so for the same reason we do...Its quiet,private and Nobody bothers you.

I am really liking the local attitude...Ya'll stay off my "Back forty" and I'll stay off yours!


I am VERY fortunate...I have slept under bridges listening to Interstate traffic all nite,Guerrilla Camped in half a dozen cities,held signs up at intersections and freeway ramps,slept in more than one "Homeless Encampment"...and many other things most "chronically homeless" have to deal with on a day to day basis

Being homeless SUX!! Big Time!!! No One in The U.S. should EVER be without Housing!!!Ever!!!

[NoSheep]

23. Sounds like a good plan. I thought I'd sell my chiz-biz and move to Nepal

At least I'd be happy.

[mnhtnbb]

7. Land of the free...to be bravely homeless.

:sarcasm:

Land of the free and home of the brave.

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R

[HipChick]

19. Unfortunately been there...

had to get out of an abusive relationship...slept in my office at night, sometimes in a storage unit with my furniture..I prayed a lot..

[JVS]

20. Isn't that illegal? What the fuck is Save the Family Arizona doing putting families in storage?

[1776Forever]

24. This goes right along with: Mom Goes Blind So Her Daughters Can See (VIDEO)

Mom Goes Blind So Her Daughters Can See (VIDEO)
HuffingtonPost | Julian Hattem
First Posted: 09-28-09 02:15 PM


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/mom-goes-blind-so-her-dau_n_301947.html

............

Oh yes - We have the best health care in the world - If you can afford it!