The housing crisis strikes again ... sort of.
The April 23 "CBS Evening News" found a way to twist the turmoil in the housing markets into something that's stretch even for them - a rise in the homeless population.
"The Anticos are leaving their Bradenton, Fla. home because they have to," CBS correspondent Kelly Cobiella said. "The bank foreclosed on it in February after Sharon lost her job and fell behind on the mortgage. For the first time in her life, she and her kids are homeless."
The true culprit behind the Antico's loss wasn't a bad mortgage or lost home value; it wasn't an adjusted rate that put the payment out of reach. It was that Sharon Antico lost her job and the family could no longer afford the mortgage.
"They're not alone," Cobiella said. "In their county of Manatee, 400 kids are homeless due to the foreclosure crisis and the numbers are rising in other housing hot zones across the country. Cleveland Public Schools have nearly 1,700 homeless students, 500 more than the previous school year. Minneapolis schools have 5,600 - up more than a thousand."
However, the particular family featured in the "Evening News" segment doesn't meet the technical definition of "homeless," according to the Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. The family is staying with a friend and therefore is not "homeless."
"Matthew's mom [Sharon Antico] found a family friend willing to take them in, but the tiny house is much farther from their school," Cobiella said.
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No job? No house!
April 24, 2008 - 10:54 ET by Mica the MagnificentOf course she lost her house because she lost her job. Geez!
That's why she didn't rent an apartment and decided to mooch off of a friend.
I can remember when my mom
April 24, 2008 - 11:02 ET by Dan The Man 2I can remember when my mom and I were fliting from place to place and we lived on next to nothing. I remember living out of our car for a bit also. My mom was by her choice a single mother, divorce, she was a fruitcake and stubborn to say the least; she even did not worry about the 35 dolars a month child support money my dad did not send her.
I remember this one time we were living in a dance studio above a drugstore in Houston. A friend of hers let us stay there while it wasn't being rented. We had a single matress on the floor, 4 folding chairs and a card table, a hot plate and a sewing machine. Mom always kept a sewing machine, I imagine it was what kept her somewhat sane.
We were dirt poor, I was a latchkey kid, I remember we were cooking pancakes and they got ants on them. I told mom this and she said thats all we have, so I dusted the ants off and ate them.
I tell yall this because I was happy and it was ok. The MSM makes like being without a permanent place is bad but home is where you hang your hat and you make out with what you have and we did. I am no longer "poor", own a home and been working at the same place for 26+ years. I turned out ok, well at least functional. So all these people need to do is work with what they have and make it until things get better.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
I have a really good friend
April 24, 2008 - 11:23 ET by terrigI have a really good friend who grew up in circumstances similiar to yours and frankly so didn't my husband. Both turned out okay, know what hard work is, are resilient and know that you don't need the government to make your way for you, you make it yourself.
People don't want to work if seems in many cases and they want these things handed to them. I saw this one woman on tv yelping about how she was swindled with her mortgage and that people who say she did know what she was signing are crazy but then this fool says that she would probably think the same thing if she wasn't in that situation but she needed the government to help her out because they took advantage of her at that bad bank.
well said Dan
April 24, 2008 - 12:59 ET by candanceI also grew up living in dumps and depending on the kindness of others. That's what happens when your parents are irresponsible. And no, it's not impossible to climb out of poverty as the media so desperately wants us all to believe.
The government
April 24, 2008 - 11:21 ET by iveseenitallI don't know why the government, headed by one President George W. Bush, didn't just buy her a new house and give her a new job. After all, "it" has the money.
BTW, you make a great point, Dan. So many people are "unhappy" and "unfulfilled" these days, no matter how much they have. It is due, in large part, to the modern philosophies of "liberalism", socialism, communism. Just ask Barry or Hillary; they'll tell you how unhappy and unfulfilled you are. Better "change" your life, with their "assistance".
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Another example
April 24, 2008 - 11:46 ET by iveseenitallI know a woman who grew up with many brothers and sisters and a drunken father in a pathetic one bedroom apartment in the Bronx. She now has millions and just sold her home for almost two million. Guess what? She did it on hard work, not on government "welfare". DUH!
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
delete
April 24, 2008 - 12:04 ET by motherbeltdelete
Folks, I had an epiphany that can turn around the economy...
April 24, 2008 - 13:09 ET by habbyguyAll we have to do is to start the constant drum beat mantra that reminds people that all this bad economic news and housing crisis has occurred since the Democrats took control of the House and Senate. Just keep hammering it out there - make it the talking point (how quickly they've screwed things up).
As soon as this becomes a mainstream notion, the press will flip 180 degrees overnight, and be reminding us daily about how WONDERFUL the economy is, and how the future's looking so bright we'll all need dark glasses. And of course, the nervous lemmings who have been scared out of the markets and from buying a house by the constant deluge of media doom and gloom will suddenly help propel the economy into the next bull cycle.
Homelessness following Clinton bubble crash and recession?
April 24, 2008 - 13:10 ET by Gary HallEpidemic - Epidemic - Epidemic. A concerning problem, sure; but Epidemic? Geeze, would somebody help us.
One might wonder how the Clintonesque dot.com bubble crash of 2000 and resulting recession increased the number of homeless people. It certainly caused millions to loose their jobs and millions to loose much or most of their life savings. Additionally, it resulted in the loss of approximately a Trillion dollars in lost "projected" federal budget surplus over three years time.
One need not wonder the MSM's interest in such an observation - there is no interest there.
(;~/