Posted on 05/20/2008 7:43:18 AM PDT by Moose4
SANTA BARBARA, California (CNN) -- Barbara Harvey climbs into the back of her small Honda sport utility vehicle and snuggles with her two golden retrievers, her head nestled on a pillow propped against the driver's seat.
A former loan processor, the 67-year-old mother of three grown children said she never thought she'd spend her golden years sleeping in her car in a parking lot.
"This is my bed, my dogs," she said. "This is my life in this car right now."
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
First sentence bias alert!!
It will be the only time that the word “small” is used to describe an SUV in the msm.
There - that's what CNN wanted to print.
They ran this story on TV over the weekend. They said she was getting something like $700/month or more in Social Security. With that, her income, and no housing costs, seems like she should be in a position to be saving up. I also think she should get rid of the dogs.
Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner.
Stop trying to find solutions. The lib's don't want solutions. They want to perpetuate plight. It's what keeps them (the lib's) in business.
She's a loan processor.
Wow, another poor victim of the terrible economy. It’s too bad there is nothing she can do and no one to help, in her situation , not even her family or the government....it’s so sad. My heart is just bleeding for her.
NOT!!
I confess, that part I approve of. Once you take a pet, it's your responsibility and you are honor-bound to take care of that pet to the very best of your ability. At least, that's my motto. I can remember when I was too broke for insurance, car, phone, or cable. But by God, my cats were fed, had their shots, and were fixed. I remember once it was two days till payday and I was down to my last 31 cents. I needed one more can of catfood (for them, not me. LOL.) I went walking through Norfolk looking on the sidewalk for pennies till I found two of them, and went and got the catfood.
You may think it's silly, but having an obligation like that can actually give you strength. Someone to take care of.
She’s got it easy.
When I lived in my car I didn’t even have one dog much less two. And it was winter time....in Montana....with no gas to run the heater.
What a wimp.
Was she held at gun-point? Knife-point?
“But she was 67. The moment her job slows down, she’s poverty striken?”
If she’s 67 she can get Social Security and medicare. And I bet she gets more than I do. And somehow I make it in a home that’s paid for.
12 million illegals have figured out how to find food and shelter in America and this genius can’t even figure out how to sleep on the couch at her kid’s place?
Agreed. But beyond that, she has a $320 per week job plus social security. She is probably taking in more than $30,000 per year and paying almost no federal income tax. Her problem is that she wants to live in Santa Barbara, CA. In Pittsburgh, where I live, she would be able to get a decent apartment and have disposable income, get meals on wheels, and food pantry assistance. In Rural Mississippi, she would be better off than most.
I have absolutely ZERO sympathy for people who live in areas that are far beyond their means. If you’re living hand to mouth, perhaps you should look into living in a less expensive community.
I was making good/decent money in late '80s California, and had saved a few bucks, plus had a nice condo in Monrovia. I was in my late 50s then but could see that we would never be able to retire there, the way things were going - and I never figured it would deteriorate to the extent is has.
I bailed out for the East (used to live there), STILL didn't like it, came back West and settled in Nevada until their property taxes looked like pre-Prop 13 in CA and finally (I guess) am in an Arizona desert. Never looked back and never regretted any move I made - and sleep in my van only when I'm at a KOA.
Not to mention that I bet she’s getting a that tax stimulus rebate, and maybe she could use that to help get her a nice little place.
I wasn't referring specifically to her!
You know, I took a good look at that picture - does the dog have a shaved area on it’s elbow? Recent medical care for the dog? No wonder she can’t afford an apartment.
All the knocking on the dogs aside, yes, I know they are expensive to feed and care for. A lot of people are saying “get rid of the dogs”. That’s not so easy to do. I’m in the same position, can barely afford my big dogs. But I keep them for a reason.
When you are older, and live alone in a not so great area, the dogs are protection. I keep two so they play together, I am not able to give them long walks due to physical disability. When you are alone in a big house at night, the dogs make you feel so much safer. I don’t even walk to the window at night without them.
But I was robbed twice before I got them in the space of two months. It’s been 3 years since and they chased someone out of my driveway one night, and there has been no threats since.
They are two big akita mixes, by the way. We feed them kibble in the 40 lb bags and that is cheaper.
“Look on the bright side - It’s California, so before long, he’ll be able to marry the dogs and become a family.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
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