Losing Grasp On The American Dream

The Other America: How One Family Went From Middle Class To Collecting Tin Cans

(CBS)  This is the first part in a Hitting Home series called "The Other America."

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That anyone would be struggling in picture-perfect Gloucester, Mass., seems difficult to imagine. But, looks can be deceiving.

"Well, what I've learned is that not everyone 'looks' needy," said Lisa Castellucci. "You never know."

And she should know. Castellucci might not look needy, but she is.

She's allowed to come every 14 days to the Cape Ann Food Pantry, where she gets donated food - a far cry from the days when she used to give.

"When you donated before, did you ever really have an appreciation for what it was like to receive?" CBS News correspondent Seth Doane asked her.

"No, to be honest, I think I gave my leftovers, pretty much," she said.

Not so long ago, Lisa and her husband, David, were living the American Dream - their own home, their own business, three kids and another on the way.

"Our fourth child we named Hope, because our only hope that we have left is from God - and if we lose that, we're done … because that's all we have, for real," Lisa said.

Poverty was not part of their plan.

Doane visited the family's former business with David, who had inherited a successful auto-body shop. But as the local economy suffered, his costs went up, and business dropped.

"It wasn't real; it wasn't real that I was losing everything I had invested," he said.

He fell tens of thousands of dollars into debt - and was forced to shut down. With no money coming in, the Castelluccis drained their own IRAs and all of the money they'd saved up for their kids, and went looking for help.

"I mean, it was humbling for me to get food stamps … humbling," David said. "I thought only really poor people needed food stamps, and then I started realizing, well, I'm a really poor person."

He also went looking for a job, but it took five months to get one.

As a father, as a provider, David said he felt, "Inadequate. Absolutely inadequate."

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Learn more about this series - and the Castelluccis' situation - at Couric & Co.

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Also, if you'd like to learn how to help this family or others, send us and e-mail and we'll tell you how.

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Sometimes embarrassed, certainly humbled, Lisa started keeping a journal.

"Not only did I sell every piece of clothing of my own - but every piece of clothing that I could sell of my children's' clothes," Lisa had written in her journal.

It happened so fast that home improvements were halted right in the middle of the job - a blanket hanging on the stairwell is their attempt to keep in the heat.

And when she's out on the street, Lisa will even pick up cans off the street for the deposit money.

"It's not like they're dirty - the cans are right there. So I just throw them in my bag and that was another $3. But, it's really tough. When I make our deposits, I just gather up whatever pennies and everything else I can find and I deposit it and I pay the bills little by little. And it's tough and it's humbling."

David got a new job as a service technician for a copier company. He makes $40,000 a year. That might sound like a lot - but with a family of six and plenty of leftover debt, they're nowhere near out of the woods.

"In a lot of ways, I think that we've grown closer as a family because of this situation. Not that I've enjoyed it," he said. "I wouldn't recommend it for anybody."

Wouldn't recommend it - and prays for a future when poverty is just part of his past.

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Since this piece aired, CBS News, the Castellucci family and their local food pantry have all gotten a tremendous outpouring of support. Check back right here for some of the reaction. In the meantime, you can leave a comment or send an e-mail with your thoughts. Also, check out CBS News affiliate WBZ's report about the affect of this piece.

[stri0407]

I know these people. They used to be missionaries before they had kids and my Church supported them. They are wonderful, hard working, caring people. Their family didn''t even know how badly they were struggling. They didn''t make poor choices. Dave''s business stopped making enough money and they already had 4 kids by the time it happened. Having a solid income and having four kids is not irresponisble. Plus, if your not going to even watch the whole video...don''t comment things about them that aren''t true. They both went to college to better themselves and contribute to the economy! Some of you people make me really angry. If you don''t care about their situation, fine, I mean, its not like you know them, and I am sure you never have experienced what they have. But do not insult them.

[jack773]

Since CBS News breaks out everything else racially (election results, educational problems, etc.) lets see a racial breakdown of who the governmet is proposing to "help" with their unwise mortgage debt.
Or is the truth politically incorrect?

[maximous2]

Yeah- I''m sure she''s sending all of those donations to the food pantry. These people are crying poor so that people will send them checks. Looking at their house, they don''t know what poor is- We''ve got people here living on the streets who are so poor they can''t even eat. I know a guy who lives under the Wells Ave Bridge. Hopefully this woman got all of the checks she was looking for from this broadcast. She doesn''t look like she''s missed too many meals. Real righteous.

[eggy1620]

To all of you who are complaining about your current situations, how much scratch would you save by getting rid of you computer and internet connection? How about your cable? Cell phone(s)? Everyone could immediately realize an instant $150 to $200 monthly gain by eliminating luxuries we did not have nor need 15 years ago!

[foranc]

FOUR children? That is the height of irresponsible! What do they think the world is going to be like for those four and their children, grandchildren, etc.? An over-populated planet unable to feed itself.

[WildDogStoll]

I would feel bad for the Castelluccis but I just don''t have time. See both my wife and I are out of work and although we are looking for work it is tough because we both have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. My wife also suffers from scoliosis and I have heart valve problems. I have been "classified" 100% disabled. 4 years ago I lost the job I had, after 9 years and 7 months, due to corporate merger/take over, shortly after that I had to have my bilateral hip replacements replaced again, (to the sum of over $150,000), the right hip had to be done twice because the hip bone, weakened from the JRA had to be reinforced with a steel ring so it would hold the prosthesis. During all this we have consumed our savings and maxed out our credit cards, sold off every thing worth money, we even have had our property up for sale but thanks to the way our government has trashed our economy, even with an excellent broker, finding a buyer has been unsuccessful. So before you shed a tear for people who had a successful business handed to them, (I would love that opportunity), and couldn%u2019t make it work%u2026 think about those that really have up hill battles through no fault of their own.

[WildDogStoll]

I would feel bad for the Castelluccis but I just don''t have time. See both my wife and I are out of work and although we are looking for work it is tough because we both have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. My wife also suffers from scoliosis and I have heart valve problems. I have been "classified" 100% disabled. 4 years ago I lost the job I had, after 9 years and 7 months, due to corporate merger/take over, shortly after that I had to have my bilateral hip replacements replaced again, (to the sum of over $150,000), the right hip had to be done twice because the hip bone, weakened from the JRA had to be reinforced with a steel ring so it would hold the prosthesis. During all this we have consumed our savings and maxed out our credit cards, sold off every thing worth money, we even have had our property up for sale but thanks to the way our government has trashed our economy, even with an excellent broker, finding a buyer has been unsuccessful. So before you shed a tear for people who had a successful business handed to them, (I would love that opportunity), and couldn%u2019t make it work%u2026 think about those that really have up hill battles through no fault of their own.

[mexinvasion]

Well what were they doing with 4 kids in the first place?? I don''t see how regular middle class people can even afford to raise just one kid nowadays. And what kind of world are we bringing kids into anyway?? If the American Dream is sinking with America, don''t bring anymore kids into the mess. Countries have cycles. We reached our peak in the 1980''s, and now we are on our way down. It happens. Fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride down. Mexico and China may get into a war over who conquers us, unless both decide a giant ghetto isn''t worth owning.

[pentangyl]

If we had a people''s Congress, there would be stability. The greatest crime of Congress is its currency system. The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking bill. Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act on December 23, 1913. History proved that on that day, the Constitution ceased to be the governing covenant of the American people, and our liberties were handed over to a small group of international bankers. The caucus and the party bosses have again operated and prevented the people from getting the benefit of their own government."

[enriquecaliente]

"Funny how all these financial problems started showing up AFTER the dems got control of congress.

Yeah, its the republicans'''' fault!

Whatever."

Yea right, and you can also say that it was the 8yrs of the Gipper + 4 of Bush I and trickle down economics that gave the country 8 years of success and eliminated the nation debit. Too bad Clinton was in the White House at the time. Idiot.

College educated and white and "clinging" to God because "that''s all we have, for real." Obama is beginning to impress me more and more. Where did this man acquire his insights into the American psyche? He knows us better than our homies. Maybe that''s what bothers a lot of people?

[killtheliars]

wangbang747,

As American''s we don''t need to compete. We have enough disposable income and resources here that we could pretty much be self sufficient.
The problem is businesses that have gone global. They need to make regions of the world that were dirt poor business friendly, they do this with american tax payer money in alot of cases but we don''t get anything in return.
The other problem are the do-gooders and environmentalists. The do-gooders fell like because i have two nice cars and nice house and 3 or 4 tvs, i have some obligation to feed the rest of the world. The enviornmentalists won''t let us drill for oil and build more refineries therefore making it necessary for us to purchase oil from other countries.
Imagine if the entire U.S. no longer purchased one drop of oil from the rest of the world? Imagine if the U.S. closed the market to China. We might take a short term hit but would bounce back stronger, the rest of the world would loose out.
American''s have no obligation to anyone but ourselves. We need to get back that attitude and teach our children that they don''t owe anyone anything. This constant giult trip that was placed on us because we live well and others don''t has helped ruin the country, the masses believed it and look what happened. I sat with the exception of the U.S., F.T.W.

[munsell10yr]

About a quote in the above article:
"Not so long ago, Lisa and her husband, David, were living the American Dream - their own home, their own business, three kids and another on the way. ''Our fourth child we named Hope, because our only hope that we have left is from God - and if we lose that, we''re done %u2026 because that''s all we have, for real,'' Lisa said."

Didn''t Barack Obama get roasted a while ago for pointing out that people are feeling like this?

[gwizzy2]

The American dream is all but lost!! If you are not struggling than someone in your circle of family of friends are! housing,gas,food prices,employment,
healthcare and the rise of crime in America are ALL major issues that are touching all of our lives in one way of another and I really don''t care who you want to place the blame on, I just want to see some of this SH-T resolved!!! Shut down the boarders and STOP sending money to foreign nations until the crisis in OUR COUNTRY is under control. WE don''t have enough jobs for our own citizens let alone all of the *** foreigners that we are letting into OUR COUNTRY to take our jobs,increase crime and send money home to their families! WE need to take care of our OWN!!!

[mace19662000]

I am sorry to her about this family. But, ... Instead of reporting about some well-to-do family who have run into hard-times, try reporting about the majority of the country who are living payday to payday, and earning $30,000 or less.
My wife and I have a family of 5 (3 mine and 2 hers), and where I worked just shut down. I know of lots of others who have gone thru the same situation. When is the media going to report of the true problem, cause of the problem, and with the right people?

[krenz4]

Well, well, I hope that they make it. But i also hope that the next time she turns her nose up at someone going through the garbage, her stomach wont be so full that she will forget how it is. I hope the next time she sees some "bum'' walking down the street with her new baby, she wont think to herself how the ''poor'' should stop having babies they cant support. And finally i hope that she will think twice before she donates her ''leftovers'' to the needy and share something of real substance.

[hwy71so]

Funny how all these financial problems started showing up AFTER the dems got control of congress.

Yeah, its the republicans'' fault!

Whatever.

[katlyn70]

People in the US don''t understand that we are a supply and demand country and when the demand goes down people end up losing their jobs. Yes things are hard right now but if you look around the world we still have it better them anywhere else in the world. Just because the price of things go up does not mean that we stop living and that is what people seem to be doing. Learn to rebugdet your family and keep on going.
My heart goes out to that family and I hope they end up on the better side of things soon.
People need to start living again and spending before we end up worse then we are already.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by monet103 at 10:50 PM : Apr

Man!!,,,You really have no clue do you. Apparently you have not yet been affected by the poor economy, or by our poorly ran country.

You will be in time, and that''s when your tears will flow like a river.

Don''t come to me looking for sympathy, with that attitude!

[hg2008-2009]

If you had followed the link in the middle of the story, you would know this couple are college educated.