More Families Grappling with Economic Woes

Thursday, February 12, 2009
Loretta Kalb and Diana Lambert
Sacramento Bee

Wanda Hoggard had $120 in her pocket. Rent on her Elk Grove apartment was overdue. And she and her 16-year-old daughter were facing eviction.

"Right now, I am on a wing and a prayer," Hoggard said, "I won't give up."

Hoggard managed to pay her January rent but just barely. But February - and then March and then April - will bring the same anxiety. And not just for Hoggard, but for an increasing number of families in the Sacramento region who are balanced on the precipice between financial ruin and just getting by.

"Right now it's very easy to focus on the economic issues because it's in your face everywhere," said Sacramento psychotherapist Jacqueline Dotson. "And anxiety, in general, is contagious."

It doesn't help that more families are having to turn to food banks and other community resources for the first time.

"We are seeing a whole new clientele," said Marie Jachino, executive director of the Elk Grove Community Assistance Network.

The number of families served by the organization's social service programs and food and clothes closets in 2008 increased 30 percent over the previous year.

Blake Young, director of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, likewise said his organization served 25 percent more people in 2008 than 2007.

Many are larger family groups from the same address.

"People are finding it necessary to combine households to make ends meet," he said.

Still, as rough as the economy has been, there's reason for perseverance and optimism, said Suzanne O'Keefe, an associate professor of economics at California State University, Sacramento.

The hardships of unemployment are temporary for most people, she said.

"People who have education and have training and have held jobs are probably not going to stay in poverty year after year after year," she said.

O'Keefe said the unemployed may have to make adjustments to their lifestyle, take a job that pays less or move to a different neighborhood to get through these tough times.

California's unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in December, slightly above the 8.7 percent recorded for the greater Sacramento area.

The state's unemployment insurance trust fund is all but broke. And gas, food and other commodities have become more expensive.

"We'll see continued job losses through the year, maybe stabilizing, but no gains," said O'Keefe. "Last time, we stayed in that range for two years."

Hoggard, 46, has lost her job twice.

She lost a state job in 2005 when she had to care for her elderly mother, she said. She and her daughter ended up living in their car and washing up at a McDonald's.

Salvation came in September 2007 when Hoggard was hired by the state Department of Social Services and, simultaneously, qualified for affordable housing in Elk Grove.

But she was laid off last year, near the end of her six-month probationary period. That's when she began the month-to-month scramble to pay her bills.

Andrea Hawkins, 31, said she was doing well financially, running a mortgage business out of her Elk Grove home until the housing downturn.

Now she's struggling to pay her own mortgage each month.

"It's scary trying to make ends meet," she said. "With gas prices going up and just everything."

Now the single mother of four has joined the ranks of those needing assistance.

She visits food banks, clothes closets, churches and other charities looking for aid to pay bills and to feed and clothe her children.

"I had to humble myself and put my pride aside," Hawkins said. "… It really doesn't feel good."

She is attending classes to earn a degree in hopes of better days. Her goal is a business law degree.

Hoggard is collecting cans and bottles to get a few dollars.

And she is sad.

"No matter how many things you have, when you don't have a job, it's such an awful feeling," she said recently, wiping away tears.

"It isn't just about bringing in money. A job means self-worth. It means pride in yourself."

FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Tenants Together is making this article available on our website in an effort to advance the understanding of tenant rights issues in California. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Help build power for renters' rights: