All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Today's census report is awash with new statistics on poverty in America.

But behind the numbers are the faces of real Americans doing their best to get by.

Case in point is Denise Guidry's family. Randall Pinkston and I met them this week in the small town of Wesson, Mississippi.

I didn't meet Denise right away -- I learned her house was up for sale, so I headed there instead. There we found a "For Sale" sign, a large oak tree, and a swing set sitting idle.

I found everything that parents in this country try to provide for their families: a place to grow up, a place to call home. I was stunned to see where Denise and her family ended up.

Randall Pinkston's piece
Read the census report

First I overheard it was a trailer, but after driving up and down the street it became pretty clear that a trailer would have been a nice alternative.

Instead I found Denise and her five children living in small camper, parked in a clear corner lot next to railroad tracks. A generator provides electricity to cook, and an air conditioner to keep comfortable. Just weeks ago, this family lived in a 2,500 square foot home. I met them when after they were trying to find a way to make room for everybody in their new home, the 27 square foot camper.

Regardless their hopes are up. This family is happy to live in Wesson because it is the small community they had been looking for when they left Louisiana for Mississippi.

"This is where I want my children to grow up", Denise told me.

What hurts this mother of 5 the most is not the material losses she's endured. Yes they are tough for her, but her biggest regret is not being able to be home for them. She's gone from being a full time mom to working 75 hours at 3 part time jobs to provide for her family, while her husband travels frequently looking for work in oil fields that need pipelines.

"We'll get through this. We're going through a rough patch right now, but we'll get through it."

They are one family in Mississippi of out millions who have joined the ranks of the poor in this country -- and seeing them as just a number in a report filled with statistics doesn't do them justice.

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They share none of the blame for America's economic crisis, yet they shoulder all of the consequences.

That is too much of a burden for any child to bear.

Since the recession began, more than one million children have lost health insurance as their parents lose their jobs.

One in 50 American children is homeless, and as more homes go into foreclosure that number will rise.

Beginning next week, CBS News will show you the suffering the recession is causing children, and the solutions some people have found, like a program that provides temporary placement for kids whose parents just can't make ends meet, and a high school where teachers are spending their own money to pay for their students' test fees, prom dresses, in some cases, even food.

Our economy impacts banks and bottom lines, but at CBS News we're making a network-wide commitment to shine a spotlight on people we cannot afford to ignore: the Children of the Recession.

That's a page from my notebook.

Kelly Wallace is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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Every day we’re reminded of another example of the ripple effects of what looks to be the worst recession in a generation and how just when you think things can’t get any worse, they do. I’m sorry to say our story tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric illustrates both points.

Consider your own checkbook for a moment and how there are times, probably a lot more lately, when you don’t have enough cash in your account to cover all your bills. That’s exactly what’s happening in 30 states around the country when it comes to unemployment benefits. States – from New York to California – are running out of money and may need to get loans from the federal government to provide unemployment insurance to laid-off workers like 50-year-old Jennifer Sloan, a Web designer and manager in New York City. How much does she rely on her unemployment benefits?

“They’re essential, I need them to buy my food, pay rent, that’s the money that’s keeping me going right now,” she told us.

Michigan and Indiana have already run out of money for unemployment and have had to get loans from the federal government. Michigan has had to borrow more than $500 million. That’s five-hundred million dollars.

What’s wrong with this picture?

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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Even as an outsider, it was not an easy meeting to witness. In late October we were given a glimpse of the struggling Dakota Restaurant, including full-access to a meeting in which the boss told his staff they may soon have to close the restaurant. He gave them a timeline. If business did not improve in 30 days, they'd all be out of work.

Thirty days have come and gone and the restaurant is still open. But business has not gotten any better. It appears that the end of the restaurant – barring a miracle – is very near.

The Meert family, who own Dakota, have tried everything possible to stay open and are still contemplating making more changes. But with unemployment in the city of Elkhart at 12.2 percent, many of Dakota’s former customers have lost their jobs and, without them, the ability to afford to eat out.

Revenues at the restaurant are down 70 percent from their peak this summer and they owners have dipped into their personal savings accounts, cashed-in part of their 401(k)s and are still struggling to make payroll and pay the bills.

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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A few months ago my boss asked me to start traveling around the country to look at the “Other America,” an America that we weren’t always paying attention to. The series was born and now that four pieces have aired on the Evening News, I think it’s starting to develop its own feel.

I see “Other America” as a look at hard-working Americans that are struggling to get by. As the economy gets tough for so many of us – with higher prices to pay at the pump and grocery store – our paychecks (for those of us lucky enough to have work) seem to be shrinking. What is so frightening is that there are so many stories out there to cover in this series.

For this week's “Other America,” we headed to Dover, Tenn. My producer, Linda Karas, a long-time CBS-er, and Emily Rand (who’s also been helping with these stories), heard that America’s Second Harvest would be setting up a mobile pantry in this rural town in the middle of Tennessee.

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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My boss gave me the opportunity to travel anywhere in the country to look for stories that “we’re not telling." It was as assignment to explore how hard-working folks are struggling to survive. We’re calling it "The Other America.”

I decided to make Mississippi the first stop on my journey because there is a higher percentage of people living below the poverty line in this state than any other in the U.S. Once I landed in Jackson, I headed straight for the Mississippi River Delta – specifically Greenville – because it is one of the poorer parts of this state. The number of people living below the poverty line in Washington County, Miss., is roughly two and a half times the national average.

But where Greenville may lack in economic prosperity, it overflows in richness of culture and local hospitality.

I’d never been to this part of the United States and didn’t know anyone in Greenville, Miss. I knew I’d need a guide. The folks at a food bank in Jackson put me in touch with Greenville resident, Janette Garner. Janette took me under her wing and spent several days with me introducing me to people around town. Janette is a volunteer with St. Vincent De Paul’s local food pantry which is where I met Debra Locket, the mother of Jasmine Lafayette, who is featured in our piece.

Jasmine Lafayette

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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The Castelluccis received their first phone call before the CBS Evening News broadcast was even finished.

“I’m pretty much overwhelmed by the response and the goodness of people – coming out to reach out to someone that they’ve never met,” Lisa Castellucci told me by telephone.

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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We spent several days shooting with the Castellucci family at their home in Gloucester, Mass. But it wasn’t until we had wrapped that, in a lengthy telephone conversation, Lisa Castellucci revealed it was the first time she and her husband had really processed what they’d been through. They spent the last few months struggling just to make it day to day … and spending the time to think about their ordeal is a luxury they couldn’t afford.

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