Monday, October 25, 2010

Homeless woman lives in public storage unit

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-john-roberts/homeless-woman-lives-in-p_b_772783.html

This is how sad America has become.

The refrigerator is the clue that something is exceptionally wrong. You would think it was purchased at the local Best Buy store and placed in a suburban home, with its spattering of magnets securing family snapshots.

Sarah points out the photos like they are digital trophies of a life lost years ago. Some of the images depict two deceased sons. Others are of beloved family friends. At more than 60 years old, Sarah appears to be a grieving widow. Not too shocking for a person leaning toward the last phase of a long life.

It is the location of the refrigerator, however, that reflects her abysmal life situation. We are standing in a small Public Storage unit in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood.

Sarah is homeless, but manages to use her disability check to rent a tiny space that is supposed to be used for storage for middle-class excess. Instead, it has become a hideaway from the unsafe streets of America's second largest city