Where Am I Supposed to Go?

Mike Phillips sits in front of me staring blankly at the table as the coffee in front of him slowly goes cold. He runs a hand across his face and sighs heavily. “What am I supposed to do now?” he says. His usually bright blue eyes are blank with hopelessness as they meet mine. He has hit a brick wall and he knows it.

This 55-year-old father and grandfather from Clearwater, Florida, who has worked all his life and done all he could for his family has now lost his job through no fault of his own. He is a victim of our depressed economy and his story is being played out in almost every town in every state across the country as homes slide into foreclosure leaving families who can’t afford to move on.

Mike is a skilled worker but there are no jobs. “I’ve tried to find work,” he says. “Believe me. But there’s nothing.” His unemployment benefits ran out two weeks ago and his only income is an unskilled job that gives him just 15 hours per week. “At least I get food stamps,” he says. “So the grandkids can eat.” He picks up the spoon and begins to stir the coffee round and round.

Mike lives in a home that is in foreclosure. The owner could no longer afford the payments when rent stopped coming in on a property that has lost 40% of its value. “What happens when the sheriff comes to change the locks?” he says, half to himself. “What do I tell the kids?”

I don’t know what to say to him. Where does this good, hardworking man take his children in a county with such severe budget cuts that there is no housing for children? And while politicians enjoy the luxury and comfort of their expensive homes immune to the policies they make, an unacceptable and rising number of Americans have literally nowhere to go. People can turn their heads and pretend not to see what’s happening, but these people are real and many of the ones suffering most are children.

“You know,” says Mike putting down his spoon, “I used to be the guy who gave a few cents to homeless people on the street.” He gets up, leaving the coffee still untouched on the table. “I never thought I’d be one of them.”

He walks to the door and then looks back at me. “Where am I supposed to go?”