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11 2 Living on the Edge in Suburbia I covered a lot of ground on foot and in my car uncovering poverty in affluent Westchester County. On my drive to see Latrice Parker at her apartment for a follow-up interview, I stopped by the supermarket to pick up a gallon of milk and apple juice as a small hostess gift. She had asked me to call her when I arrived in her neighborhood. I did so, but was told by her sister that she was out looking for an apartment. How to spend my morning? I decided to find someone I had previously interviewed to give the provisions to. My first choice was Tanisha Moore, whom I had met at lunch at a soup kitchen and talked with afterward at a park while her children played. She told me that a few months earlier her landlord had lost his Section 8 privileges because of violations, thus the housing department withheld direct rental payments to him. He in turn tried to sue Tanisha for about $4,400 for that portion of back rent. On the morning of our meeting Tanisha had been at the courthouse fighting a seventy-two-hour eviction notice. After learning that the landlord had to comply with an “order to show cause,” Tanisha was assured not to worry because it was not her fault that her landlord lost Section 8 privileges. A court date was scheduled for five days hence. But the “worst of it” was that Tanisha was also in jeopardy of losing her Section 8 voucher, which she had for two years after being on the waiting list for ten years. This was because three months earlier Tanisha was hospitalized when she gave birth to her daughter and missed her Section 8 recertification meeting. Her recourse was to file and attend a fair hearing, which she did. At the hearing she presented documentation proving her hospitalization and was told a decision would be rendered in ten days. On the day we met it had been almost two months and she still had not yet received a decision. 12 Living on the Edge in Suburbia Recalling her story with the milk and juice in hand, I set out to Tanisha ’s. Because she did not have a phone, she had given me her address. However, I was unable to find her street that morning, so I proceeded to the home of Celeste Woods, who lived nearby. Upon my arrival, I found myself in the midst of a flurry when one of her children let me in and escorted me to the living room. A group of people were there for a home inspection of her transitional apartment. When Celeste came in the room, I offered her the groceries but it was not an appropriate time to chat, so I left shortly thereafter. In a phone conversation some time after my visit she told me that she had moved and we tentatively arranged a date for me to drive her to a food pantry. I had hoped to talk about her move then, but we never connected. Some time later when I was at a family shelter, a woman approached me and exclaimed, “I’m the person you interviewed in the park.” It was Tanisha! We chatted but never broached the circumstances that led to her shelter stay, though I could have guessed. I had found Tanisha’s street on another hunt and discovered a blank space on her vestibule mailbox. I surmised she had been evicted. At our brief encounter at the shelter Tanisha concentrated on her good news—she was about to move out of the shelter and was getting married. She beamed as she flashed the engagement ring on her outstretched hand. After I extended congratulations we parted. On my way out of the shelter, someone called my name. Turning, I saw Celeste. We hugged. She told me that she had been to her gynecologist and another doctor in the morning and that she had a dental problem. During our short chat Celeste did not say why she was living at the shelter or give the specifics of her medical condition. But when I interviewed her months earlier at her apartment, she had told me about her travails. Her three children are now teens; raising a family that included a child who had multiple physical and mental disabilities since birth had been a challenge. Her own numerous health problems coincided with prolonged unemployment...

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