 "I can't understand why I keep waking up with back pain, neck pain, and cramps all over!" |
Posted on 08/30/2017 10:09:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A professor teaching at San Jose State University who can’t afford a place to live in the South Bay tells KPIX 5 she is spending most nights sleeping in her car.
Ellen Tara James-Penney is adjunct professor at San Jose State.
She teaches four classes of English 1-A and has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
That has not kept her from becoming another member of San Jose’s homeless population.
“With what I make at San Jose State, I can’t pay $2,000 a month rent. Can’t do it,” said James-Penney.
Her take home pay is about $2,500 a month. Her usual routine is nearly constant motion.
After classes she parks in library or Walmart parking lots where she grades papers.
“I sit there until it gets dark. Then I sneak into a neighborhood, park there, then go to sleep,” explained James-Penney.
She says when people find out they are shocked.
“Because there is a stereotype, and that stereotype is drug addict, alcoholic, lazy,” said James-Penney. “I just asked my students, and that’s what they answered.”
Glen Peterson works with the San Jose branch of the Christian nonprofit organization CityTeam. He calls it the changing face of homelessness.
“Not everybody is in a position to have jobs that pay them enough to keep up,” said Peterson.
When CityTeam first started helping the homeless 60 years ago, clients tended to be mostly men with those stereotypical addictions.
That is not the case anymore.
“People in this situation are now right alongside us,” said Peterson. “They could be in the next cubicle or teaching your children. It’s a tremendous challenge for us.”
James-Penney used to be an admin in high tech, but was laid off in the dot-com bust and was forced to live on her savings.
She went back to school and paid tuition with student loans.
“I’m $143,000 in debt. And I’m in my 50s. But I pay that loan back every month,” said James-Penney. “That is mandatory for me. But that chunk I pay also affects how much I can afford in rent.”
She also supporting her husband — who is unemployed — and their two dogs.
“I fight to stay positive in my thinking. Doing my job, caring about my students. But it wears on me,” she said.
She keeps her car neat and her belongings are minimal to avoid being detected.
But deep inside her roof rack cargo carrier is a cast-iron frying pan she doesn’t use, at least for now.
“Just like my mom and my grandma used to have,” said James-Penney. “I hold on to this because it’s the hope that someday I’ll have a home again.”
She also supporting her husband — who is unemployed — and their two dogs.
doh!
One dog is expensive enough. But three?
At her age she would never get a public school job.
She might get a parochial school job but they pay about what she is getting. But she might be able to live in a lower rent area.
I agree with other posters. Too many questions. There is something wrong with her. Seems like she made too many bad decisions in life.
Rent a bedroom. Why isn’t the husband not working? Why do they have dogs? Why can’t she get another job? Maybe get a second job.
She’s working. She’s paying off her debt and her taxes are extracted from her paychecks, in all likelihood. Non-working husband (for whatever reason) and dogs are somewhere else so this is probably temporary. It’s a dangerous place to be and can become a trap.
This is a legacy of the Obama years. Just a couple of years ago I took a temp job out of state and was doing the same thing - a white collar, professional job, btw. I stayed at a rest stop at nights because the hotel rates would have consumed the pay. Guess what? There were a half dozen others doing the same thing. Not day labor stuff either. Sales reps, retail, and contractor work from the looks of their vehicles. Fortunately I don’t have to do that anymore, probably, but it is going on.
This is how determined honest people are to work in post-Obama and Obamacare America. Not the grifters, not the foreign flotsam, not the hobos. The honest Americans caught in the economic rot of globalism. The weak ones beg, or top themselves.
Meanwhile, we wait on Congressturds like Ryan and McConnell to get with the program.
You are a professor earning only $2,500 a month?
Okay.
Maybe one of your fellow professors will let you couch surf but, you are going to have to lose the dogs, even the one you call husband.
Gigantic car payment?
If I were her, I’d find someone to foster my two dogs. Then try the three motel 8’s within 45 minutes that rent for $800/mo for a few months while the man of the car got a job. Then a few months more, and there would be enough to put down on a rental in the bad part of town - which is where the dogs come back into the picture. A year or so living humble, and move to a bit nicer part of town. Rinse and repeat. Problem solved. An ‘adjunct professor’ should be able to figure that out.
“And there’s cheap rent 1/2 hour away.”
Where?
A one bedroom apartment in San Jose would probably cost at least $2,000 however, she could rent in Gilroy or Morgan Hill in a legally converted garage or in fact a cabin on a property for less than $1,000
However, that doesn’t overcome the $2,500 a month and income
You’re right. There are a lot less expensive areas to live. And I am sure there are other areas where both she and her husband could find work.
|
"I can't understand why I keep waking up with back pain, neck pain, and cramps all over!" |
Doesn't she has an office, in which to grade papers?
She supports her husband? WHY DOESN'T HE HAVE A JOB...ANY JOB?
What about some kind of housing on campus?
If she and her husband sleep in a park, where does she change her clothes, where does she even keep them, and on and on , the questions keep popping up.
Yes, there sure is!
It's an expensive area, but I do know people getting by on less than $2400/month.
Gilroy, Hollister, maybe parts of MIlpitas or Fremont. Los Banos is cheaper, but farther away.
That’s me! Even though I’m old enough to know better.
First stupidity was taking on $143K debt for a skill that only earns you ~$40K/year.
Second is an inability to think outside the box with respect to an income source. The Bay Area is stupid busy right now, if you can “get shit done” you’re going to find a $20+/hour job here with ease. A buddy today was bemoaning the fact they can’t hang onto good truck drivers because they get sniped as soon as they get some time under their belt. If you can shoe freakin’ HORSES here you can make 6 figures.
This is probably exacerbated by the illegals filtering home or laying low. I know one group that is probably going to order of magnitude vote Trump in 2020 and that’s legal immigrants, Mexicans in particular. They are at a point where labor pressures are starting to result in lots of overtime and I’d posit pay hikes.
A lot of people don’t realize that if you can demonstrate dependability and loyalty and have a few brain cells to rub together there are a lot of employers who will train you up and run you up the ladder. we’re not talking software design here, we’re talking concrete work, utility work, inspection/testing, electric, framing, drivers, etc...
A flunkie.
A female clone of an ex-president. What's wrong with this picture? There is a LOT missing from this propaganda sob story. A closer examination of it is probably revealing, educational and requires introspection and sober discussion. Each of us needs to decide for ourselves, where that might lead us.
One thing is, for me, the correct answer, strategically, is certain : Antifa is not the right answer.
And what about house mother jobs, tutoring, and other such jobs, for her to make extra money?
There's a LOT missing from this stupid story and she's telling some strange tales to boot!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.