The New Homeless: Aspiring Web Developer Ends Up on San Francisco's Streets

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Daily Finance

Earlier this year, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that 1.5 million people would be made homeless over the next two years as a result of the recession. In this series of profiles, DailyFinance speaks with some of the people who have fallen victim to layoffs, foreclosure, unforgiving creditors and plain old bad financial luck. Here are their stories.

The descent into homelessness can occur with terrifying speed. For Mike, a 33-year-old aspiring Web developer, it happened after an emergency loan from a relative suddenly fell through, driving his family out of a motel and onto the streets of San Francisco in September.

His wife and two kids were lucky to get a bed at a shelter, but there was no room for Mike (he asked us not to disclose his last name). So he ended up spending four nights in Golden Gate Park, a sprawling urban greenscape that, while popular with tourists and locals alike during the day, can be dangerous after dark.

"I couldn't believe it," says the former Seattle resident. "I wasn't technically well off, but I could keep a job, and I was thinking, 'How the hell did I get here?'"

Just one year ago, everything seemed possible. Mike was living with his family in the pleasant beach-side community of Seattle and was in the middle of an exciting career change. After a decade of working as a chef, he was looking forward to finding a job as a Web developer. To make ends meet while he was finishing up a bachelor of science degree in software engineering at a state university, he was working for a company that did catering for private jets.


Read more: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-news/the-new-homeless-aspiring-web-developer-ends-up-on-san-francisc/19290233/

[lib2DaBone]

1. We are All going to end up homeless.... a matter of time....

Meet the new Boss....

There are no jobs programs coming.. no reason for the depression to end.

$16 Billion to Afghanistan... zero to American Workers

We are fucked

[glinda]

30. thought has occurred to me

[salguine]

44. No shit. The corporations that really run this country will not stop until

every last man, woman and child is barefoot and destitute and has no more to be squeezed out of them.

[PJPhreak]

2. kick & rec. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. This story will unfortunately become a tale that is all too familiar

in the next few years. It is heart-breaking.

[laughingliberal]

4. k & r n/t

[Techn0Girl]

5. The New Homeless? Really? Make that Title the OLD homeless...

Because that story was my story back in 02. After 20 years on the workforce and working my way up from 20K to making 6 figures in '99 I was unable to find work as an I.T. Professional from '01 to '03. My savings gone , and everything I owned either lost or sold I ended up in a homeless shelter for Woman Veterans around '05. In the interim I worked at everything from driving buses to selling vacuum cleaners at Sears but in the end I could no longer afford an apartment.

Welcome to the New Economy. My jobs had been sold overseas or else to H1B workers making a third to a fourth of what I used to make.

I finally managed to work my way back up AGAIN from 12 bucks an hour to a decent wage - but 18 months ago I needed Chemo - and my insurance wouldn't cover it. The VA did however and I owe my life to the Public Option (for Vets anyway). So I lost the job of course during Chemo and now I am cured in wonderful health but on unemployment and looking again.

Corporate America is NOT where this country needs to be. It sucks the life blood out of it's people.

Think it can never happen to you?
So did I. In my wildest dreams I could never imagine myself homeless.
It's going to happen to a LOT of you too reading this right now unless you start making changes in this country.

[G_j]

8. wish I could rec this

Corporate America does not have our better welfare in mind.
go to the end of the line...

[glitch]

9. +2 one for the OP and one for you.

May 2010 be so much better for everyone.

[niceypoo]

11. Yeah, that was a bad time for IT

I just got my first IT degree in early 01, ended up going back to school in 03 and getting a bachelors. Just in time for the next collapse. Bubble bust-o-nomics.

[Lorien]

17. I know tons of people in the arts, sciences and film industry who are barely

hanging on. Many have been out of work for over a year. I keep hearing "I think I'll retrain for a position in the medical field" "I'll try to retrain as a web designer" "I'm looking into becoming a civil engineer" etc. But honestly, are there any "safe" fields to get into these days? Is there a sure thing out there, or is every job vulnerable to off shoring and dying off due to the recession?

[BlueCollar]

28. Skilled trades are still quite steady

Electricians, plumbers...

It's hard to get into the fields but they're weathering this recession a little better than most I'm hearing.

[Doremus]

39. Not here in NE Ohio. I know a plumber who's been looking for work for 18 months..

My son is an ironworker and has been off for over a month.

When there's not that much building going on there's not much call for construction tradespeople.

[BlueCollar]

49. The point I was trying to make

is that there are some areas of work that can't be offshored...

IT is a nebulous world, the trades are tangible...for the most part.

You can't offshore carpet installation, emergency plubing or electrical work...

Trade work is still the safest, but subject to the vagaries of the market...

[Neecy]

43. I think there's only one safe field left....

I have two nephews. One graduated from Mizzou in December '08 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After a year of searching for a job, he ended up working at a pizza parlor. He's going back to school to get his Master's degree this month since there's nothing out there short of joining the Army.

My other nephew graduated in '07 with a degree in finance. He's making excellent money and has a terrific job.

Finance - play with what little money is left over, make big money
Engineering - building things? Not so much.

Funny priorities in this country.

[SoCalDem]

21. Since Reagan. people have become expendable... employees used to be assets

now they are liabilities..to be cut loose ASAP, if there's a buck to be made/saved.

MOST people who derive their main income from a paycheck every week, two weeks, monthly, etc, are a few checks away from living in their car or camping on someone's couch until they finally end up "outside".

The safety net is full of holes, and for many, it does not even exist..

[Nikki Stone1]

52. +10,000

.

[high density]

6. Entry level jobs in IT have been impossible to find since the dot com bust

Everybody wants five years of experience. At the same time they're unwilling to hire newbies, Bill Gates and company are complaining there are not enough competent computer people to hire. Nobody in corporate America is willing to invest the time in training for people to expand the labor pool but they're eager to import cheap H-1Bs that are far from brilliant.

[NashVegas]

15. Has It Still Not Sunk In? IT Was Invested In To Eliminate Jobs

And when their work is done ...

[PSPS]

7. All the "web developers" are now in India

It's always funny to see how the out-of-town press describes Seattle. Here, it's the "pleasant beach-side community of Seattle." Well, there is Puget Sound and there are a few accessible beach-like areas around it (mostly outside Seattle.) But it certainly ain't no Malibu.

Having said that, I wish this poor guy the best of luck. Unfortunately, web development has been largely offshored now. Even Microsoft outsourced all of its web work to India some time ago.

[niceypoo]

10. My wife has a friend that is an X-Ray technician who lives in her car

Cleaning someone's house once a week is her only income. Hasn't been able to find work going on two years.

[Lorien]

18. Sorry, but I have to ask; if this woman has friends then why can't someone

let her crash in their living room, family room...even basement until she can afford a place of her own? It's cold out there and living out of one's car is dangerous.

[Techn0Girl]

20. Because....

Maybe all your friends are stretched to the limit too. Maybe they just don't have room on their sofas... maybe they have families...maybe their lease doesn't allow another. Maybe you feel too ashamed to crash on your friend's sofa. Maybe your self confidence and worth flew out the window with your job and your income.

They're a lot of reasons.

There are a whole lot of reasons

[Le Taz Hot]

57. And one more . . .

Maybe you've already taken in all the people you can take in. That's our story.

[niceypoo]

24. Here is the story:

First, she is a Russian immigrant, so she doesnt have a whole lotta friends here. She has an apartment but is subletting it to someone she knows at a small profit. She gets food stamps and supplies most of the food for the household, so she can eat there and hang out during the daytime. She sleeps in her car in the parking garage, so at least it is warmish.

The guy who owns her building is pissed at her for the arrangement, but he gets his rent so he largely keeps his mouth shut. She does some odd jobs for friends but her housecleaning gig and whatever she makes subletting her apartment are her only 'stable' incomes.

She is basically living in limbo. A patchwork quilt existence.

[dysfunctional press]

34. she's sleeping in her car by her own choice then.

so in that respect, i can't really muster up any sympathy for her...:shrug:

[Fumesucker]

36. I don't see a choice there..

She has insufficient income to maintain the apartment herself, if she lived in it she would soon be out without even the slight profit she makes subletting it.

Either way she would be sleeping in the car, but this way she at least has the car in an enclosed parking garage and has a few extra dollars.

[dysfunctional press]

41. you're right- i misunderstood the situation...

for some reason i was thinking that she was able to afford the apartment without renting it out- but chose to rent it out for a small profit. it could be the weed.

but- if she's an x-ray tech with a car and not a lot of roots in one area- she could/should possibly consider seeking greener pastures in another area of the country.

she might be able to find better job opportunities and lower rents- and she can start her search on the net.

[Leftist Agitator]

42. I sincerely hope that you end up homeless one day.

We'll see how your "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" bullshit rhetoric serves you then.

[dysfunctional press]

45. so you don't think that it's a good idea for people to consider relocating to find work...

in their chosen profession? especially when they don't have a lot of roots in one area?

btw- i sincerely hope that you end up with a debilitating and extremely painful spinal disease like i have some day.

mostly just for the hell of it.

[Leftist Agitator]

48. If someone is living out of their car, they probably don't have the means to just pull up stakes...

Without the promise of a job waiting for them in another city. Gasoline costs money, you know.

P.S. I hope your painful spinal disease gets more painful every day, and that you suffer greatly than you have ever known because of it. Just for the hell of it.

[dysfunctional press]

50. well then i guess that she has no hope then, and she should just die, huh...?

:eyes:

what's YOUR suggestion for her then, oh wise social sage...?

[Name removed]

51. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Techn0Girl]

58. You are SO going in my ignore list...

Having a disability is NO excuse for boorish, unsupportive and frankly trollish posts towards those who also have hardships in their lives. In face to face conversation people who express attitudes like yours are generally walked away from and ignored.

Guess what happens now?

[dysfunctional press]

59. thank goodness for that.

one less idiot with no comprehension skills that i need to concern myself with.

too bad though, that i won't get to hear why you find suggesting that someone consider possibly relocating to find work in their chosen profession to be 'boorish and unsupportive'- nor will i get to find out what your suggestion for someone in her situation would be...:shrug: but- ultimately, i think i'll sleep just fine without it.

[The Northerner]

12. Can't the rest of the stimulus be used to assist those who might lose their tech jobs?

[NNN0LHI]

14. Did you read the article?

From the article:

Thanks to money made available through the federal economic stimulus program, Hamilton was able to enroll the family in its First Avenues program, which helps families keep or find homes, depending on their situation. Since it started in 2006, First Avenues has prevented 375 families from getting evicted and helped another 500 homeless families get permanent housing.

Through the program, which will last 18 months, the family has received money for a deposit on an apartment in Oakland, Calif., as well as assistance paying the $875 rent. Mike says the neighborhood is much grittier than their old community in Seattle, but he's grateful for the roof over his family's head.

"It's a really nice unit," he says. "The kids are less stressed out."

[cutlassmama]

16. 875 families is not enough. There are/will be millions homeless.

[alp227]

13. K&R big time. Where are the jobs? Why are they getting outsourced?

How could such big corporations lack the resources to give Americans jobs? That's just pathetic.

[Techn0Girl]

22. They are getting outsourced because of Clinton and Rahm Emmanuel...

who at the time passed NAFTA that opened up the outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing to other countries.

Nafta is the reason I was homeless for 18 months. NAFTA is the reason that IT jobs outsourced (or went to Visa workers). It was a Democratic administration that did that.

With Obama I thought there might be change. But now his administration just mandated that 7-10% of your income will go to the same private insurers that caused the whole Health care mess in the first place.

I was hoping for change.
I was wrong.

[alp227]

26. Good point on NAFTA. I wondered why there's so much anti-DU sentiment on NAFTA

when Bill Clinton, under whose administration the economy improved and the budget had a surplus, signed that.

On Google, the 8th result for searching NAFTA is this study by the Economic Policy Institute

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp173/

What a ----in sham.

[treestar]

37. I was curious about that too and actually found something

showing the Mexicans were the ones who suffered more under NAFTA and it is a cause of illegal migration:

file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/IMMIGRATION/POLITICS/TomPaine_com%20-%20Corn-Fueled%20Migration.htm

I think on DU it is just a scapegoat.

[court jester]

29. San Francisco Bay Bridge steel set to be shipped from China

With much fanfare and celebration - by Chinese steelworkers and Caltrans officials alike - the first steel pieces of the new Bay Bridge suspension span were prepared to ship out of Shanghai on Tuesday - more than a year late but in time to meet a Dec. 31 deadline that officials hope will keep construction on schedule for a 2013 opening.

"It's momentous," said Ken Terpstra, Caltrans' project manager for the Bay Bridge, from Shanghai where workers staged a ceremony complete with daytime fireworks. "It was a hard, challenging road, but they're ready to go"

"The first shipment, delayed by welding problems," (What was that again?)

"The steel was originally scheduled for delivery in October 2008 but troubles with welds on the prefabricated steel deck pieces caused repeated delays while the problems were resolved. While construction of the new bridge has continued, the delays in the steel shipments have raised the possibility that the bridge opening could be pushed back beyond late 2013 and that the $6.3 billion budget, including an emergency reserve, could be exhausted..."

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-12-30/bay-area/17461914_1_bay-bridge-golden-gate-bridge-bridge-s-steel

-------------/------------------

Yuppers, it's "momentous" all right. A once proud almost self sufficient manufacturing giant dependent on steel from China...Wonder if they used lead in the paint...


Chinese steel is funny
unless you live in PA

[ljm2002]

31. That is actually scary...

...because it is not just the welds, but the material itself that must be created perfectly in order for it to have the appropriate strength and staying power.

I know it's all tested, but still. You can do all sorts of stress testing, but you can never exactly simulate the real-world stresses these beams will have as part of a bridge carrying thousands upon thousands of cars each day. Nor can you simulate the effects of time -- you can extrapolate but only the passage of time will tell for sure.

A few years ago I bought an inexpensive set of stainless steel silverware. After I had used for a few months, rust spots began to appear on the knives. Sure enough, made in China. A chemist friend commented that it's easy to make proper stainless steel -- but that whoever made this set had simply not done it right.

Some day China won't be known for crappy products. But right now, in this time, they are. And having lived in the East Bay for many years (although not now), I am sincerely concerned that they chose to import steel from China to rebuild the Bay Bridge. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that in 50 years, there will be reasons to rue that decision.

[Juche]

32. Why are they even using Chinese steel

I think steel is only about 5% cheaper if it was Chinese vs. US. Back when oil was $150 a barrel it became cheaper to make steel domestically than to make it in China and transport it. Add onto that minor savings the quality control issues and it doesn't make sense.

http://www.researchrecap.com/index.php/2008/05/page/2/

[treestar]

38. Because they will do the same job for less money

apparently even transportation costs don't make them more expensive.

Which means they must work pretty cheap in China. China is far away, yet even transporting the products back to the U.S. doesn't make the U.S. more competitive that way.

So they will do the job for much, much less money and there is nothing stopping the companies from saving on labor costs by moving there. What can be done about that is another question.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. Sounds like somebody near and dear to me.

My hubby. We met in 1994. He got canned from his engineering programming job Jan. 2, 1993, because Bill Clinton had been elected, and the right wing boss just KNEW the economy was gonna go to hell.
He went back to school and got a useless degree from the Art Institute, one of those ripoff proprietary schools that put you in perpetual debt servitude from your student loans. It was in music and video business. His money ran out in 1994, when he graduated and he moved in with me.

If he had not moved in with me he would have been homeless. This is a man with many years of programming experience and a B.S. and an M.S. in math/electrical engineering/physics.

This business of educated professionals not being employable started a LONG time ago. It's not new.

He had a crappy job that was killing him from 2000 to 2006 and then he got canned because the president of the school he worked at was busy destroying it and running up deficits. He retired because he was old enough to get social security at 62 by then. So now he doesn't have to be a suckbutt.

I have three college degrees myself and I stopped looking for a job several years ago. Even with a Juris Doctor, I was spinning my wheels and using up a lot of gas, energy and money to get nowhere.

[blues90]

23. To be homeless is the worst thing and it's heartless

I was homeless in 1971 because at the time I did not make enough to afford rent on my own and the girl I lived with and I broke up and I could not find a room mate so I froze in my VW bug in the IL winter.

I was homeless again in 1980 because of a divorce. This was in FL and I had a van so I slept in that and sold some things I had to eat and bathed in the ocean it was warm there and I was only 31 and on my own so I was able to deal.

Then in 1981 I met someone while installing cable TV in FL and while I still worked and lived in my van I did have the cable job . I was a ford tech for years but after the divorce all my tools were stolen out of my van.

I then go a job as a carpenter and made more and was asked my my new girl friend I met installing cable in her parents house in FL if I wanted to move in after I rented a townhouse with her brother for a year so I moved in and re-did their home and built cabinets and repaired their cars and all sorts of other work to pay my way and got another job at ford.

It took a year to save up $1,000 to move here to southern calif in late 1981 and we did this by camping in my van and she had furnature stored here from a failed relationship. We got an apt for $400 per month I got a job at ford and we just about got by for years.

I worked and things got better by the 90's and by 2000 I was a ford dealer manager after working for them since 1993 as a tech . I worked at three ford dealerships before that one and the last one closed in 1992 so we lived on my un-employment and a few life saving side jobs and toast and cerial was our daily food .

I was finally doing well for once in 200o as a manager then in oct 2004 I was fored for no reason at will crap because of new upper management wanted their people and they can do this , then I got 6 months un-employment and it took 11 months to find another job in Oct 2005 at ford then in Feb 14 2006 I was laid off.

We went through hell just to keep a roof , I sold everything not nailed down and got some side work .

After countless on-line ap's and a few interviews I had to work for myself doing any odd job I could get and did it dealing with mass anxiety and panic attacks until the nervous breakdown set in , I was picking my arms raw and ended up on SDI . that ran out and through this I got worse and now am on disablity . We have a roof and toast and cerial no van and a 1973 VW I got in 1985 for less fuel use.

I am 61 and she is 64. If we lose this then we are done.

Nothing breaks my heart more than to see anyone on the street or a tent city living in the cold or hot calif nights . I still give any cahnge I may have to help. But now without a job all interest I had in anything has been drained out. There is no purpose and each day is the same as the day before . We can't afford to go out for anything , but it's better than life on the street especially if you have children , MY GOD!

We need to end these wars and get jobs and the healthcare that people can afford we need to do this or it's the end for so many people. I have protested and called and written and got nowhere.

I have never seen anything like this , never.

We call this AMERICA , REALLY? So much wealth in so few places and they feed off the people and continue to do so.

I thought the 80's were bad , well prices have gone through the roof on everything you really need just to exist and it's 2010 and we have many more people out there for less work at much lower pay , how is this ever going to work out.

It looks like the people help the people or we have no hope at all. Perhaps we should form our own union , the people for the people and to hell with the politicians and their wars and wealth and corporations.

You can vote until your face bleeds and just look how well that has worked out for the working class hero.

[Subdivisions]

25. Amen, blues90. Our stories aren't all that dissimilar.

Peace and all the best to you, friend, for the new year and beyond.

[KakistocracyHater]

54. they call it "falling thru the cracks", of the 'safety net', that I doubt exists

anymore. Your story is rough, terrible. I think about the kids in homeless shelters; there's a whole bunch who were newborn & pre-kindergarden in homeless shelters, growing up in America, they must see it with very different eyes.

To Blues90, if you can, try to make friends with your neighbors, MAYBE you can help each other out a bit. I give oranges to my neighbor & she looks out a bit for me; my tree has what seems like TONS of oranges, so it's fine with me.

A People's Lobbyist is desperately needed, it's obvious now, I agree & commented on this elswhere.

[KG]

27. why, you all are just a bunch of gloom and doomers!

just chill the fuck out, obama's got this! :eyes:

[napoleon_in_rags]

33. I saw this on another site, thought it was actually a little classist.

I mean good story, just the tone of this one paper...Oh my gosh its a COMPUTER DEVELOPER!!! Like if it were a nurse or dental assistant it would be no big deal.

In reality I'm less surprised its a computer developer than a nurse. My story is very similar, I graduated not to long ago with degree after studying comp sci, and I've been working outside the field to make ends meet. My family, who work in the business side of tech, all warned me. They said the dev jobs are going to India, so forget it. As long as the businessmen know they can pay equally qualified Indian devs $15 an hour, that's it. Software is too easy to import via the net. I've been in contact with many from my class, and many of the BEST are underemployed. What I'm waiting for is the point where these tech firms realize that they can now get college trained US devs for the same price as the Indian ones.

[dysfunctional press]

35. he should get to the chicago area...there seem to be some jobs opening up around here.

my wife has been getting recruitment calls, and landed a position dowtown yesterday.

[treestar]

40. Something is wrong here

There are poor people who've been homeless and they are more likely to suffer that. But we're supposed to care more because it is a middle class person? There's no discussion of how he ended up in such bad shape - he at least was better off than poor people in the first place. Is this supposed to scare us maybe - it could happen to us too and we aren't scared enough? Most middle class people are going to think he must have made some really bad decisions before he lost his job.

[haele]

53. I think it's more a wake-up call to the middle class who have their heads in the sand.

University grads and middle class workers see the working poor or the unemployed, and the knee-jerk reaction is "that can't happen to me". There is a magical thinking process that will deny that anyone can be poor and unemployed without "deserving" it or being too stupid to make the right choices. 'Cause, frankly, that's what the freeper types like to think. They don't recognize that not everyone has the same opportunities or just had bad luck in working at the wrong company or in the wrong field.
It happens everywhere and in all fields.
By indicating that a "hard working educated middle class" type can be "the new face of homelessness" shows that the common perception that the homelessness is a problem for those who are morally weak, lazy, or drunks/druggies is unraveling as more people are becoming homeless.
It's sad to consider showing the downfall of privilege is what it takes to push the problems that actually cause homelessness in the faces of deniers, but there it is.
When you or your neighbor can become homeless, that's when most people tend to get concerned. It's always going to be someone else's problem if the increased under and unemployment situation won't potentially affect you.

As for the wealthy, they won't even notice homelessness until their gated communities start getting stormed. But they'll probably figure out that they can always pay enough numbers of armed, amoral ass-kissers to protect them from the general population should there be unrest.

Haele

[jmowreader]

46. Doesn't web development pay about as badly as cooking these days?

I look at the classifieds for web developers sometimes...Christ. They want you to have a BS, five years experience, be fluent in every known Web development package there is, and they're willing to pay a rate you couldn't even hire an H1B for. You'd be better off frying wings at Hooters--at least the waitresses there are friendly.

[Fire1]

47. They're young and have time to recoup. n/t

[conspirator]

55. I am an unemployed programmer, and this worries me nt

[WT Fuheck]

56. Our lords and masters want us all penniless and powerless.

They are not stealing from us; everything belongs to them already. They are just taking it back and fighting among one another to amass the most wealth and power before the coming "Culling."