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None of the three fits the stereotype of a homeless person. All =
three=20
work at least part time; they just cannot afford a place to live. =
They are=20
the working homeless.
``I'm totally humiliated,'' Taylor says.
Forty-four percent of homeless people nationwide have some sort =
of=20
jobs, according to the latest statistics available from Department =
of=20
Housing and Urban Development.
Stuck in the lowest of low-paying jobs, they are priced out of=20
shrinking markets for affordable housing. They work, they try to =
save, but=20
they can never accumulate the hundreds of dollars they need for =
the first=20
month's rent and the security deposit on even a modest apartment.
No statistics indicate whether the ranks of the working =
homeless have=20
grown over the past decade, HUD officials say. But those who work =
with the=20
homeless around the nation say they are seeing more of the working =
homeless as the economic boom rolls on.
Los Angeles housing activist Jeff Farber has encountered =
homeless=20
telemarketers, nursing assistants, home-care and child-care =
providers,=20
homeless data-entry clerks and computer-repair technicians.
``In Los Angeles, it's $1,000 a month for a two-bedroom. A =
[low-wage]=20
family of four would have to work 100 hours a week just to pay the =
rent,''=20
says Farber, who is assistant director of the LA Family Housing =
Corp.
FOOD AID =
That is almost double the 37 percent found last year in the 30 =
cities=20
surveyed by the mayors' conference. No one at the organization can =
explain=20
the increase.
There is no margin for error, no more room for accidents or =
misfortune,=20
in the life of a working homeless person.
Michael Taylor knows.
On a Monday night, he says he was shut out of the shelter =
because he=20
worked too late to get in line for a bed at 4:30 p.m. So he slept =
in a=20
park in the rain.
At 4:30 that morning, soaked to the bone, he stood in the =
day-labor=20
line, hoping to get picked.
That day, Taylor was lucky. He was selected to load trash =
trucks and=20
earned $33. And that night he got one of 110 beds at the shelter.
``We always had working poor people,'' says Burlington, Vt., =
Mayor=20
Peter Clavelle.
``In the past, people working full time had the ability to =
secure=20
housing and put food on the table.''
Distressed by the growing number of working families seeking =
emergency=20
food and shelter, Clavelle says traditional relief programs should =
be=20
redesigned.
``We need to revisit the fabric of that safety net,'' he says, =
to weave=20
``a different kind of safety net designed to catch people who are=20
working.''
NEW BROOM =
Work becomes a kind of Catch-22 for the working homeless: If =
they meet=20
job schedules, they often miss appointments with social workers or =
schooling that might advance them.
Michael Taylor admits that his prison record does not help.
Crack cocaine was his downfall. He went to prison when he was =
26 for=20
robbing a convenience store. He served 10 years.
Taylor got straight in prison. He read a lot of great books =
there --=20
Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina -- and dreamed big dreams =
about the=20
future.
Given a chance to start over, Taylor was forced to confront the =
original blank slate of his life. He needed an identity card to go =
to=20
work. He tracked down his birth certificate. He had never seen it =
before.
He is a father, but a stranger to his own three daughters. He =
says he=20
is too ashamed even to try to contact them.
Everything is particularly hard at Christmas.
``You see families walking down the street with their Christmas =
shopping. You are in a shelter. Waiting for someone to feed you. =
You are=20
unable to meet your most basic needs. I'd love to be in my home, =
opening=20
presents. Giving presents. More than anything else in the world =
you'd like=20
to be able to give someone something.''
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=20
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