Mom Forced To Live In Car, Cnn Article

[Chief skin]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom/index.html

This is amazing they live in cars and parking lots are used to house cars and them overnight. The late great USA has truly seen better times

[Thiebear]

Harvey was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off. She said that three-quarters of her income went to paying rent in Santa Barbara, where the median house in the scenic, oceanfront city costs more than $1 million. She lost her condo two months ago and had little savings as backup.

So she lived in a million dollar house and didnt save crap.

And her 3 grown children are not helping.

How is that a reflection on the USA??? more detail needed. Sounds like she didnt plan.

[Dictator]

I know this isn't the purpose of the article BUT....

"She leaves the dogs in her car with its windows cracked while she works."

:doh:

[China]

She's 67 and hasn't managed to save anything in all those years? How expensive is housing in Santa Barbara? Couldn't she move somewhere cheaper? A Honda SUV? Why not swap that for an econobox, and use the money gained to help pay for an apartment?

[Thiebear]

Ohh and

Harvey stays at the city's only parking lot for women. "This is very safe, and that's why I feel very comfortable," she said.

Sounds like the City is providing for an emergency situation in housing and such.

Go America !!!

[DGreenistheBest]

Just sounds like poor financial planning to me. Nevertheless, that she got laid off in the first place suggests that if it weren't for the diving economy, she'd still have her apartment. While cases like this are as much the fault of the victim as they are the system, the fact remains that our country is in a nosedive.

[jpillian]

Still have no clue why this is headline news for CNN.com.

???

People get laid off all the time; people have to change their lifestyle's all the time. This particular woman sounds like a maroon.

I certainly have sympathy to all in need, but this lady (like a lot of older people) just doesn't sound like she wants to adapt to the realities of her situation.

Kudos to New Beginnings, however. Sounds like a good organization, meeting a need in the community.

[paige3girl]

Just sounds like poor financial planning to me. Nevertheless, that she got laid off in the first place suggests that if it weren't for the diving economy, she'd still have her apartment. While cases like this are as much the fault of the victim as they are the system, the fact remains that our country is in a nosedive.

I was laid off last year, didn't work for three months. I didn't end up in a car. I still paid my mortgage, still paid my bills. Granted things were tighter but because I had taken proper steps prior I was okay in the end.

Like the other posters before me I had the following thoughts when reading:

1. 3 kids, where the heck are they?

2. Move somewhere cheaper.

3. There is a little animal neglect there

4. You should never have 3/4 of your income going towards living expenses, again she should have lived somewhere cheaper

[motorhead]

Pretty dogs. Dam shame for them! Someone needs to step up to the plate!

[endzone_dave]

She's 67, wants to live in a "scenic, oceanfront city" and has no savings. Brilliant.

[Zguy28]

I feed people every Saturday who sleep behind bushes or on in alleys. They prostitute themselves for $5 and have substance addictions. You should see them when I cook the hamburgers and hot dogs for them. Little tiny women take two hamburgers, 2 hot dogs, bags of chips, oreos, and come back for more. They eat more than I can.

Be thankful.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Wow...I'm really impressed with all of the sympathetic statements

emanating from this thread.....

[Destino]

Has america really fallen so low that a mother is left homeless and her kids let her sleep in a car? FAMILY FIRST, ALWAYS. There is no way in hell that my mother sleeps in a car. She can take my bed and I'll sleep on the floor if I have to.

[jpillian]

I feed people every Saturday who sleep behind bushes or on in alleys. They prostitute themselves for $5 and have substance addictions. You should see them when I cook the hamburgers and hot dogs for them. Little tiny women take two hamburgers, 2 hot dogs, bags of chips, oreos, and come back for more. They eat more than I can.

Be thankful.

Good stuff! Do you work through some sort of charity or are you doing this on your own?

[talk show host]

The families of all these people should be ASHAMED of themselves. The main woman in the article has not one, not two, but THREE children and NONE of them are helping her? It should be a crime. Maybe if she didn't have to raise 3 ungrateful brats she would have had a bigger savings.

[Sarge]

Yes, bad America. We should raise taxes on all liberals to help people that don't help themselves:rolleyes:

[Midnight Judges]

So she lived in a million dollar house and didnt save crap.

And her 3 grown children are not helping.

How is that a reflection on the USA??? more detail needed. Sounds like she didnt plan.

It says the median house is $1 million. She lived in a condo. It was probably more like $700K. :laugh:

Anyway, yeah I have no sympathy. And as liberal as I am that's saying something. I'm sorry but you don't have the right to live oceanfront in Santa Barbara, or Old Town Alexandria for that matter.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Yes, bad America. We should raise taxes on all liberals to help people that don't help themselves:rolleyes:

No. We should just give tax breaks to wealthy folks and corporations.

Right Sarge?

[Sarge]

No. We should just give tax breaks to wealthy folks and corporations.

Right Sarge?

You aren't willing to pay higher taxes to help this poor, wretched soul out?

And you call yourself "liberal"

[jpillian]

The families of all these people should be ASHAMED of themselves. The main woman in the article has not one, not two, but THREE children and NONE of them are helping her? It should be a crime.

My guess is that a big part of this kind of situation is that neither the kids nor the mother think it's a serious enough situation to really make permanent changes that could realistically allow them to support each other (i.e., moving into together/getting a place together, and/or moving to an area with a lower cost of living). In my opinion, it's because there is no real desperation here. They still have choices, and in general, we live in a society where there are always options for getting your basic needs met. It just may not be up to your standards or expectations.

[The Sisko]

Has america really fallen so low that a mother is left homeless and her kids let her sleep in a car? FAMILY FIRST, ALWAYS. There is no way in hell that my mother sleeps in a car. She can take my bed and I'll sleep on the floor if I have to.

You said it. Mrs. 06's Mother lives with us and her Sister will stay with us until she dies-she has terminal lung cancer. Other than extreme cases of mental illness where it can't be avoided, I was raised to believe that families just don't allow each other to fall on hard times without doing all you can to help out...certainly not to let it come to have them living on the street.

I don't care how much the woman still wants her independence her kids have an obligation to either take her in or send her $$$ to keep her in her home.

[Popeman38]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom/index.html

This is amazing they live in cars and parking lots are used to house cars and them overnight. The late great USA has truly seen better times

When did the USA die? This is an important question, because if it died, who is getting all the taxes I pay every 2 weeks?

Did you even read the article? 75% of your income should never be tied up in any one thing. EVER. How hard would it have been for her to move to a cheaper area? Save for retirement? Hell, save for a rainy day? If she is 67, she is eligible for Social Security. Which assuming she paid fully into she is eligible for like $1200/month. Not enough to live in Santa Barbara, but enough to get by elsewhere. Too many unreported issues in this story. Probably because it was written from a sympathy standpoint.

And DGreen, this nosedive you speak of. Why are all signs pointing to a recovery already? If we are nosediving, why the optimism?

[Chief skin]

My point was save for the grace of God in the times we live in it can happen to anyone. People are losing there homes every day (yes due to the wheeling and dealing with the creative mortgages of the past) Fact remains most of the labor force is living from paycheck to paycheck. It is a very different country then it was 50 yeras ago and not for the better. What kind of country are our kids going to inherit

[Destino]

I feed people every Saturday who sleep behind bushes or on in alleys. They prostitute themselves for $5 and have substance addictions. You should see them when I cook the hamburgers and hot dogs for them. Little tiny women take two hamburgers, 2 hot dogs, bags of chips, oreos, and come back for more. They eat more than I can.

Be thankful.

God bless you for what you do for those in need. I need to do more myself.

[Hiro]

Has america really fallen so low that a mother is left homeless and her kids let her sleep in a car? FAMILY FIRST, ALWAYS. There is no way in hell that my mother sleeps in a car. She can take my bed and I'll sleep on the floor if I have to.

A-Freakin-men to that dude. If my mom, or any of my parents or grandparents, are ever in trouble financially I will have them move in without hesitation.

They spent a good chunk of their lives raising us and taking care of us. The very least we can do is help them in times of need. :2cents: