On September 11th, the lead story in the online New York Times focused on family homelessness. I don’t know what it’s like in other cities, other parts of the country, but here in Traverse City, Michigan every time I go to town, it seems that one more storefront is empty, one more restaurant is closed. What does that mean? People have lost their jobs. What will they lose next?
Thanks to Paula Aylward, family law attorney in Marshall, Michigan for bringing this story to my attention.
"Number of Families in Homeless Shelters Rises" graphically describes what it means to be responsible for a spouse and children and to lose everything. The Times recounts the story of a family that seemed to be well on the way to the American dream: A three-bedroom condominium and the typical suburban life, with a sport-utility vehicle and a minivan to cart around their growing family. Suddenly the restaurant where the father made a good living closed. Eventually, they lost everything . . . except themselves. Fortunately, after calling some 100 shelters in Florida, they found a shelter where they can sleep—Mom, Dad, toddler and infant in one room on two twin beds pushed together.
As a teenager, you had rules. But not like the rules in a homeless shelter:
- No one can be in the living quarters from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- The news is even off-limits as television programming in the common area.
- Residents were recently barred from congregating around the bench outside.
Infractions bring write-ups; three write-ups bring expulsion.
Every few days, new families arrive. A few hours after the Griffiths got back from the mall where they had spent the day under cover, so many reminders of the normal life they once had, a young woman pushing a stroller with a toddler rang the shelter doorbell, quietly weeping.
You may read Luo, Michael, Number of Families in Shelters Rises, The New York Times [September 11, 2010] here. A one-time registration may be required.
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