A New Kind Of Homeless

By David E. Thigpen

The Christmas season was not made any brighter by the release of a survey from the U.S. Conference of Mayors showing that the demand for homeless shelter has spiked 13% since last December. The report confirms a subtle change in the complexion of the homeless population. In contrast to the usual conception of the homeless as hardcore unemployed, 1 in 5 residents of shelters now holds a full- or part-time job. These people--waiters, security guards, laborers and other low-paid workers--once earned enough to pay their rent but are now squeezed between high housing costs and stagnant wages, worsened by the recession. While the minimum wage of $5.15 has not changed since 1997, housing costs in 10 cities surveyed by the National Coalition for the Homeless, among them Oakland, Calif., and Minneapolis, Minn., have shot up between 19% and 26% this year alone. That means a family must earn at least $13.87 an hour, a wage few hope to attain, to pay for a two-bedroom apartment.

This is the plight facing Tom and June Fisher, a Cincinnati, Ohio, couple with three children. Though both Tom and June worked in an auto-parts factory, they still could not afford their rented trailer and had to move out. A state agency has placed the family temporarily in a motel room and pays part of the $45-a-night tab. June now cleans rooms in the motel, and Tom works in a sports bar. But it's a struggle. The family shares two double beds, a cot and one chair; toys and school books are stored underneath the beds; luxuries, even small ones like movies, are usually out of the question. This is not what they expected for their kids. "They know this is home now," says June, "and it hurts."

--By David E. Thigpen