SALINAS, Calif., May 21, 2009
Losing Homes And Ending Childhoods
CBS Reports: Economic Meltdown Leaves Homeless Children To Grow Up Fast
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Tristen Clark, a homeless 11 year old, at school. (CBS)
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Play CBS Video Video Spotlight On Child Abuse Calls to domestic violence hotlines are up 21 percent and, often, children are the victims. In an online survey of law enforcement officials, many cited the recession as the reason. Sandra Hughes reports.
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Video The Recession Worries Children Seth Doane reports on the psychological impact of the recession on kids. Jennifer Hartstein explains to Maggie Rodriguez how to explain to kids about money concerns without worrying them.
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E-MAIL US Recession's Impact On Kids Know any children -- perhaps even your own -- suffering from the effects of the economic downturn? Let us know, and we might tell their story as part of the special CBS News initiative, "Children of the Recession."
Meet 11-year old Tristen Clarke, and his mother Rhonda.
If you want to understand what it means to be a homeless child in this recession, walk a day in Tristen's size 7 sneakers.
"How is life for you?" asked CBS News correspondent Byron Pitts.
"Pretty bad," Tristen said. "Everything has gone down the drain. We don't have enough money to pay, we can't afford food."
At schools teachers describe Tristen as a sweet boy: smart and innocent.
"I feel lucky about my life because right now I'm not really on the street or in a cardboard box," Tristen said.
Instead, he and his mom live in the El Dorado Motel on a busy street in a tough neighborhood in Salinas, Calif. There are 22 other homeless families here.
They landed here after she lost her job in January as a job coach for people with disabilities. That means a cramped space, no car and no health insurance. There's just a bed for her, an air mattress for him, and a plastic bowl for Tristen's turtle. Last week Rhonda's $90 weekly unemployment check stopped.
"I try to save food," Tristen said.
"What do you mean?" Pitts asked.
"If we're going to run out of food I'll only eat a little of it and save it for later," Tristen said.
His grades have dropped - he'll have to repeat 5th grade. His self esteem is falling. And he is often afraid.
"I thought I was going to lose everything yesterday," Tristen said. "I thought we were going to lose everything."
"That scare you because that's a possibility?" Pitts asked.
"Yeah," Tristen said.
"Because you've lost things before?" Pitts asked.
"Yeah, I have," Tristen said.
Behind his Harry Potter face is a child in crisis. With his mother's permission, Pitts and Tristen kept talking.
"Find the words for me," Pitts said.
"Life and death," Tristen said.
"You think about life and death?" Pitts asked. "Why do you think about things like that?"
"Because I gave up," said Tristen, crying.
For the homeless children at the El Dorado Motel, life is often bleak. But there are a few bright spots. Like many school districts across the country, Salinas has a homeless children's advocate. Cheryl Camany helps identify homeless children and provides resources and free supplies.
As for Tristen Clarke, he says he has one real friend - 8-year-old Gus Hernandez, Jr. They're neighbors. Gus is also homeless.
"Me and him share the same life," Tristen said. "He understands me and I understand him."
They also share the same risk. Even a simple game of soccer can be dangerous ... when the ball rolls right into traffic. For their safety, the boys were ordered back to their rooms by the motel owner.
Anger and frustration brews in Gus every day. He lives with both parents and 4-year-old brother. They owned a house until Gus Sr. lost his job as a mortgage loan processor. The bank foreclosed on their home.
"My life is dumb," said Gus Jr. "We have to live in a motel, have to be in at a certain time. Can't play anywhere, and most of my friends are there."
"That must be hard?" asked Pitts.
"Today was a worse day, tomorrow may be better," Gus said.
"That makes you an optimist?" asked Pitts.
"Yeah," Gus said.
Later, Pitts went to talk to Tristen.
"What do you want Americans to know about you, what it means to be a child and homeless in America?" Pitts asked.
"We need people to help," Tristen said.
Children of the recession - for whom childhood has all but past them by.
Where you can offer help if you're able, or receive help if you need it:
District Outreach Consultant/Homeless Liaison, 840 South Main Street, Salinas, CA 93901
ATTN: Cheryl Camany
ccamany@monterey.k12.ca.us
831-753-5600
* Please indicate on check if you would like your donation to go directly to the Clarke and Hernandez families or to all homeless children identified in the Salinas School District
©MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
More From Children of Recession
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- Hello, I am a good friend of Rhonda Clarke. She is now living in a room of a woman's house and Tristen is in school and doing great. But still has not gotton the help she needs. If you want to contact her here is her email : rhondakclarke@gmail.com Please feel free to contact her. I am talking to her as I writing this. Thank you for all your great comments. It is really nice to see more people in the world that care. thank you Melissa Slack
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- My heart was instantly broken when I heard Tristen's story.......his face, his eyes, his tears told the whole story. I haven't been able to sleep without thinking about his plight. By the grace of God my three boys had a father who was able to provide financially and emotionally through those years though we were divorced. They never had to worry about whether there was enough food must less clothes.........and the thought of any child having adult problems of that magnitude is unbearable. I want to be able to reach out to him and his family and let them know there is hope. My promise is to email everyone that I know to help with this family, and my prayer wil be for Tristen to know that God will always be by his side. If we write Cheryl Camany, your contact person for Tristen........could she please let us know how he is doing, and what is happening in his life?
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- Why are so many of these moms enduring this recession crisis alone? Where are the fathers of these children? Single moms can only do so much. Men need to step up, pay teir child support, get their children health insurance and help out! We need a law that protects these children from deadbeat absent dads!
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- This is funny to me that this issue is now news! Kids suffering from the recession. I guess kids suffering from poverty is not a story anymore huh? We all for got about the kids who have only known shelters, streets, staying with friends/relatives. Oh I guess it is news now that the average American kid is getting a taste of this lifestyle. Give me a break!!! Sad but hardly a new phenomenon!
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- I was so touched by Tristen's story that I want to help and I am going to try and get others
in my 55+ Community to help. I am going to try and send him some money each month even though I am on a fixed income but I still have sooo much more than him. If I send it to him at the El Dorado Motel in Salinas, California, will he get it. ? Please let me know as I also want
to send him a new pair of sneakers and socks.
A Pop Pop in New Jersey - Reply to this comment
- Homelessness started, on a systemic scale, back in the 1880s when all the land in the USA became legally owned.. From this point on a constant class of people were put out on the streets because to exist in the USA one had to pay an inflated price to exist to those who owned land. Simply put, all land was bottled up and titled as law-made property in direct violation of natural law and the natural rights we possess as human beings. The liberals create Housing Act after Housing Act after Fannie Mae after Freddie Mac after Jobs Programs... etc. redistributing income of those who can afford land as compensation. The conservatives see no problem in privatizing land that no human created and say just live in your car or under a bridge if the market price is to high. Both agendas are wrong. The solution is to recapture the rental value of land by instituting a fee on the privilege to title land no one created. This can be accomplished by taxing land values. Shift the property tax off property and put the burden on land value.
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- Spoken like a true rich person.........................................................................................................................
Get a clue! Businesses did not get a tax break and the corporate taxes in America are the highest in the world. That is why there is an attraction for U.S. companies to open facilities in other countries. LOWER THE CORPORATE TAX RATE and jobs will be created. - Reply to this comment
- In case you forgot. They have had tax breaks for the last 8 years. They did not "create jobs" they sent them overseas. They used those tax breaks to move jobs in India and China. And in case you have not noticed, we are in a recession, companies are laying off, NOT HIRING. I would bet Ms. Clarke would much rather be working, instead of living in a motel watching her life sink down the drain. Perhaps the "pull yourself up by your boot straps" mentallity worked for you, but in the current economy, it isn't working for anyone.
Posted by debinok1 at 8:37 PM : May 21, 2009
Get a clue! Businesses did not get a tax break and the corporate taxes in America are the highest in the world. That is why there is an attraction for U.S. companies to open facilities in other countries. LOWER THE CORPORATE TAX RATE and jobs will be created.
Your response was about individual taxes, not corporate taxes. - Reply to this comment
- Hmmm...
Earlier this week, there was news coverage about a secret meeting of billionaires in New York City. Supposedly, they gathered to talk about philanthropic issues.
I would remind them that charity begins at home. This case in Salinas is not an isolated case. Rather, it is happening in cities and towns all across the United States.
Many people are facing difficult challenges, not by their own choice, but by circumstances beyond their control.
Nearly all of the helping organizations such as Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, are being swamped by requests for help; but, can only provide modest help to those in need, because of a lack of money donations.
Almost every Catholic parish has a group of St. Vincent de Paul helpers, who try to provide some assistance to all who ask, regardless of race, age, religion, etc.
If you are interested in trying to help those in need, check with a local parish and ask to speak with a St. Vincent de Paul volunteer. They will be able to tell you what they need and how you can help them.
Another way of helping people in need, is to contact your local food bank and see how you might be able to help them with a food or money donation. - Reply to this comment
- If they were a minority they'd have a roof over their heads, grocerie
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- This story really stuck with me. I have 3 children and just like everyone else in todays world wonder if they could be lost any minute. This is almost as bad as it could get. I want to help them, in particular Tristen and Rhonda.
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- You know after reading some of these comments, I can why America is the way it is. I work and so does my wife , and I cant give money to people who cant help themselves, but a homless family yes, everyday we feed the starving children of Africa, and starve a child in the U.S
Then the children of these other countries grow up to hate us.
when is the United States going to take a good look at WE THE PEOPLE and stop forking all our money out to other countries. If you want to move your company oversees, the sell your junk oversees, we need to build america so america can support itself - Reply to this comment
- I'm a 50 year old American expatriate businessman living in Cairo Egypt. Once a week I go online to catch up on the news. This is the first story that has really bothered and angered me....more than news of war in the Middle East region, and everything else going on. I grew up in Salinas and remember never being hungry and always having a roof over my head and having a loving family. I have not been back to the U.S. in 5 years, and what I watched is not the America I grew up in, and I personally see the dollars that U.S. government sends these countries squandered due to mismanagement and outright greed.
I want to help the little guy and his mom get back on their feet. I have the address and urge other Americans to lend a hand. - Reply to this comment
- These people need to step back, take a lower paying job, (there are jobs out there if you really want them and are willing to look), and get on with their lives and build up again. If they don't want to do it for themselves then they need to do it for their kids.
Posted by dakag3
You mean take a lower paying job like at McDonalds, where they have HUNDREDS of people standing in line for ONE job. The problem is there are very few jobs available, and more people every day looking for them. - Reply to this comment
- I want to help Tristan Clarke. I can give him a home in Moab Utah until his mother can get on her feet . He can live here and still talk to her any time he wants. I do not know if she could get a job here unless she wants to be a waitress or motel maid. Sincerly; Olivia DeLong
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- I am interested in assisting the family with the 11 year old boy name Tristen Clark, that lives at the El Dorado Motel in Salinas, CA. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
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- I am sitting here watching the early morning news and it is making me very angry. I do feel sorry for these kids, don't get me wrong, but as long as I can remember ther have been homeless veterans and kids that people don't seem to care about. These people are homeless because of legitimate reasons like medical or disaster. This recession has made people lose their homes, yes, but these people were so used to having all this money coming in and spending without thinking about it that they do not know how to budget for anything below what they are used to and that is why they are homeless. People like us take run down trailers, apartments or housing complexes just to keep a roof over our kids heads. People from the recession think they are too good for that so they complain and get themselves on the news just to make people feel sorry for them. We have been living like this for years and we know how to make it through because we have to. These people need to step back, take a lower paying job, (there are jobs out there if you really want them and are willing to look), and get on with their lives and build up again. If they don't want to do it for themselves then they need to do it for their kids.
Posted by dakag3 at 1:21 AM : May 22, 2009
Cheers. Very well said. - Reply to this comment
- I also found the address for the family at the El Dorado Motel and hope that they receive the mail. I'm a single mom who has lost my job and everything but I was fortunate enough to be able to live with my parents until I find a job again. I'm wanting to help this family dearly!!!
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- Byron Pitts did a great job on this story!
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- What makes me angry is that we have plenty of money to send to other countries that absolutely hate us, but no money for the people who are actual citizens. Then we get fartknockers like goodusa who come along and make being homeless as simple as comparing apples to oranges. By this time next year, the US of A could look very much like Beruit. People say turn to god in times such as these, people we trusted and look what it got us: Ronald Reagan, Nixon, Carter, and lets not forget the ENTIRE republican party. Remember in the movie King Kong, when Jack Black said that beauty killed the beast? Well, GREED killed US and it's taking its sweet old time in doing it. You can bet that Tristen is learning this lesson very well.
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