Employed but still homeless, working poor say 'Homelessness can happen to anybody' By Jessica Hopper, Tim Sandler and Cristina BoadoRock Center Before the sun rises, Cindy and Patrick Kennard wake their three daughters, fold their cots in a Sunday school classroom and pack their lives into suitcases.
“This is an every Sunday ritual,” said Cindy Kennard. “It’s something that we do every week and so it just becomes natural. We know the best thing is to get up and keep moving.” The Kennard family of five from Johnson City, Tenn., is homeless. In New York, Having a Job, or 2, Doesn’t Mean Having a Home. Why Don't Homeless People Just Get Jobs?
One reason someone without housing may not be looking for a job is that he may already have one or more already.
Normally, from one third to one half of the homeless population is employed. During the current economic situation (and due most likely to many recently un-housed due to mortgage foreclosures), in many cities well over half of their homeless population has jobs. This might lead you to ask why these people are without housing if they have jobs. Many employed homeless people are working at minimum wage jobs, jobs which don’t provide enough to pay for basic living expenses in many parts of the country.
Also, many of them are underemployed, they don’t get enough hours of work to pay the bills.