How poor people survive in the USA | DW Documentary

in southern california the sun rises over san diego bay next to a main road in this parking lot maria, 54, begins her day straighten my bed this car is her house this is every day this routine of stretching out my bed maria ya she doesn't have a place to live she's been sleeping in her truck for a year now it looks great don't you see it doesn't look like you live here but um you do i've seen

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with their cars so messy and all that stuff about the place and how can i go to work with my life like this I mean it has to have a little bit of order you know why it's what we need to continue it's not so perfect but it's the way I want and it makes me feel better just like maria about 30 other

people

are sleeping overnight in their cars in this free parking lot, however most of them work, they are security guards, uber drivers, secretaries or even computer technicians, maria is a cleaner and caretaker, a tr exhausting down that she performs seven days a week.

Some consolation for everyone An organization has provided them with a water point, portable toilets and a small outdoor kitchen where Maria prepares her morning coffee before going to work. This type of ox bulletproof coffee is very famous in the united states maria's full from grace is a situation that affects thousands of other americans for a long time she had everything she ever wanted she was married and lived in this beautiful house but after five years of living together her happy marriage suddenly he collapsed he left me he left me it's okay it didn't work out bye, okay, bye, see you later, I said what no, I don't have a place, I don't have a home, I'm a homeless Nobel, no, I don't have furniture, I don't have a house , so it's just my car, I have a seat here and um, yeah, that's the way.

Maria preferred to leave everything in the hands of her ex-husband and turn the page, but in recent years in California, the cost of rent has increased so much that her salary, the equivalent of 1,500 euros, was not enough to buy an apartment. Maria is Just one of the many middle-class Americans who in recent years have officially fallen into poverty America is great again Since the 2008 crisis the economy has never been stronger with record growth and unemployment has fallen to a low historic less than four percent a rally for which donald trump has taken all the credit there has never been a better time to start living the american dream but despite what the president claims the famous american dream is far from being achieved 40 millions of people live below the poverty line and millions of workers will do everything they can to stay above that, do you get money, are you familiar with the pl asthma das ok i do it twice a week being homeless overnight is what these americans fear the most because here the system is not very kind to those without cash you better get catch up real fast or you'll have a foreclosure judgment against you and you'll get addicted in some states for being late on your rent no laughing matter the sheriff's office one by one tenants are evicted at gunpoint where can i sleep sleep in the hotel if i need it for these americans on the verge of ruin seeking medical treatment can cost a fortune it's hard to eat and take your medicine too because you may not get one or the other so some people are standing in solidarity to make sure that they are cared for free in field hospitals not unlike those found in a country at war. for those who cannot make a living in the heart of america destitute san diego in southern california 300 days of sunshine a year and beaches as far as the eye can see this is a postcard california san diego is also one of the most dynamic cities Unemployment here is virtually non-existent this dream lifestyle was once a daily reality for eric he was a successful computer engineer earning 7,000 euros a month today at age 53 this man lives alone in his car and to eat gratis has made an arrangement with the staff of a pizzeria hello hello how are you today getting well I'm here to pick up some sip thank you what do you have here uh these are the slices they have on their screen uh they have them for a long time and then they put them on the fridge for me for them uh to donate eric comes every night to pick up some leftover pizza well thank you very much appreciate it okay bye he's gonna share these unsold slices with other victims of poverty because for a year and a half eric has been sleeping in this parking lot that maria the cleaner also lives in his pizza deliveries make his neighbors very happy like lorella a 55 year old uber yeah hungry driver did you eat today no no i didn't drive all day today in his previous life eric also worked a lot 50 hours a week but four years ago he suffered from burnout and also problems with his heart he couldn't work and received unemployment benefits for s Six months and then nothing absolutely.

I thought I could handle it. I thought it would get better but it took its toll and after several years of dealing with doctors and burning through my savings I ended up basically burning everything and what I could. he can't afford to stay in his apartment any longer eric is trying to get back on his feet nowadays he's doing a temp job and saving up so he can rent an apartment after his long day at work maria is back are you tired yes yes it is uh where i work it's kind of hard because i have to lift a lady she's very heavy back and forth but um nine hours is not uh that's a lot of hours but i'm well thirsty my food my bed i'm ready to jump in my bed gets very tired at half past nine the gates are locked from this moment no more cars can enter the parking lot at night there is no security guard there has been no attack here to date but maria does not run no risk i lock the door i put the roll down the windows like this and set the alarm if someone is trying to get in i will know i have my pepper spray and my hemai cutter someone is trying to get in spray yeah because you never know thats a a few yards away eric is getting ready to spend another night in his car even though it's full to the brim the former computer engineer will sleep sitting up behind the wheel he's a world away from the comforts of his old life um one thing what I really found out about this is you know the typical stereotype of um you know the homeless person is lazy and doesn't want to work or is a drug addict that can be the case in some places and some and some but the people that i have come in this program most of them are very hard working people who want to get ahead who have some health problems or have had a run of bad luck or for whatever reason they have gotten into this situation some people can get out of it quickly some people take long ger california is a state of stark contrasts despite being the fifth largest economy in the world a growing number of its workers can no longer afford a lu place to live but there is another state where the system is even more ruthless that state is virginia right next door washington dc its capital richmond is an old industrial city here a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line of the top ten cities with the highest eviction rates in the country half are in virginia in richmond alone about 3,000 renters are thrown out of their homes each year evictions are a routine job for the loyal deputy of the sheriff's office several times a the week distributes the dreaded yellow notices in the state of virginia the law is strict if the rent is set for five days the landlord has the right to begin the eviction process threatened tenants have one week to pay off their debts, otherwise, they face forcible eviction and the loyal officer does not show much sympathy.

Hy this morning, he and his colleagues have to evict the residents of the sheriff's office from this house and, just like when arresting a dangerous criminal, the sheriff's office enters the house with guns drawn. I'll take that sheriff's office. The tenant is not currently home. and clearly they have not had time to vacate the premises as for the landlord, he immediately claims the property from him check everything. I'm checking the windows now. Why make sure that the house is safe? The tenant has arrived and is in shock because she had been renting the house for seven years single mother of an adult daughter works but has often had trouble making ends meet has to collect her belongings the next day otherwise , it'll all go to the junkyard at your expense it'll be easier on you like the vehicle that's in the backyard or whatever if they take it away because if you have a towing company take it away then that's an expense What else would you be looking at yeah okay I mean okay do you think this is all a little hard I think it's hard no he has to do what he has to do and I have to do what I have to do where are you going sleep where am I going to sleep Yes, I can sleep in the hotel if I need it.

If I can, yes. Thank you so much. Have a good day. He was immediately homeless. There is no room for negotiation. This is the only way to make sure he hasn't moved. the only way he said he was moving before this didn't move maybe maybe he had nowhere to go huh you know he never told me that there are about 10 evictions like this every day in richmond as a consequence of this fast- Track Justice Cheap hotels on the outskirts of the city have become a haven for those who have been driven from their homes. Some people stay there for a long time.

Among them, David, a 38-year-old gardener. new day david has lived in this motel since his eviction two years ago on the weekend of div The forced father's children come to stay the night in his one-bedroom house that costs him 1,300 euros a month this is a man this is our room living room family room each room this is the little kitchen where I cooked her eggs last night and made burgers so I'm not doing the dishes yet, you know, we hang out, we play video games and, um, the bathroom, you know, I took a shower, but, um, that's it for the week, david shares this single room that he's packed with household utensils and personal possessions with his new partner.

Isn't it too hard to live for two years here? Oh man I'm kind of tight, you know obviously if you put two people in the same room for long enough they're going to bump heads and have arguments and stuff. girlfriend has a steady job in the insurance business they could buy a bigger less expensive apartment but they are still stuck in this small room because their past eviction continues to haunt them but at the time she was trying first and then me I'm like you they'll beat up so much going to places and stuff and they're not giving you a place because they're like, oh, you had an eviction, um, you know, it shows that you didn't pay for like two months or something and it was definitely detrimental to him, you know not there was no way to get anywhere, almost unthinkable in many parts of the world, but here landlords can access the past of bad tenants with a few clicks on a consistent basis. surveillance system which has been denounced by martin vic bright a lawyer and tenant defense attorney so this database is a public database i mean anyone can access this database and look at it and can search by name so let's try a common a common american name here we go mary gillespie ok um there we go and you can see five illegal stops let's see ten years ago this tenant had a series of late payments despite being small amounts in this case for below 300 can have serious consequences so if me landlord can look at that and say well that was 10 years ago but i think she is too risky i dont want to rent to her if something bad happens to her either i know she will be reduced working hours whether you break an ankle and be out of work for a month, whether you got the car repair bill or the hospital bill or whatever you just throw your budget a bit off, you better catch up fast or you'll have a foreclosure judgment against you and get addicted to what the tenant is really living under the sword of damocles david is far from an isolated case 6 300 people they are evicted in the united states every day in the city finding housing is the main source of anxiety but there is a region where for some, the main concern is simply being able to put food on the table. all the mines are closed it is often said that the american dream was lost somewhere along the way here the predominantly white appalachian region is home to some of the

poor

est counties in the entire country during the summer at lunchtime this food truck goes up and around the underprivileged areas of roanoke lewis and stacy are two volunteers who give out free meals to kids they serve up to 200 meals a day and every time they come they look forward to them on today's menu a sandwich acarton of milk and a kiwi you are a turkey in this family both parents are unemployed receive 1,200 euros of welfare a month but as a family of five it is barely enough to live on well i try to get in at least two or three but towards the end of the month when the stamps run out save 'em maybe i'll eat one i eat it up like now we're at the end of the month yeah i usually skip breakfast and lunch and uh or yeah breakfast and lunch and then i have dinner thats all i need to know that yes being

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to the point of starvation this reality is nothing new in the appalachian region during his 1964 election campaign lyndonb johnson visited appalachia and was horrified by the poverty that he saw after his re-election he launched a master plan to end poverty here today and now he declares unconditional war against poverty in america one of his ideas was to create food stamps coupons given free to the poor to this day the go government distributes these food stamps to 40 million americans in this mobile home park in the heart of appalachia most families benefit from this food aid with the american flag hanging from the front steps this is the mobile home of 58 years old cyrenia collins a former marine cyrenia no longer works due to a long illness she receives a pension of 700 euros she faces a daily struggle to get by and her financial difficulties have worsened since she took care of her niece jennifer she is an unemployed single mother who has three kids to take care of leah lindsey and jaden luckily jennifer gets food stamps every month on the first day um depending on you or how many kids you have and your income they put you know a lot in there and i get every month on the first i'll get like 640 640 just for buy food just for food yes 560 euros a month to feed five people on tight budget before i r shopping the two women check the balance on their card cyrenia and jennifer can spend their food stamps at any supermarket like this discount store where they regularly shop once at the checkout the food stamp card works like any other card on credit and at this store in appalachia they are by no means the only ones using one how many people pay with food stamps here um probably half the people that come here is a lot yeah yeah thanks donald trump plans to reduce the number of recipients Critics say it risks further impoverishing an already vulnerable society, but ironically here 80 voted for Trump and their support for him continues seemingly unabated to earn a little extra cash. he also cuts james' hair he works in a mine and is a loyal trump supporter i am a trump fan yes i support trump why p because he has done everything he said he would do um you know trump is willing to help other countries but his country comes first that hasn't happened in a long time donald trump is a billionaire donald trump supports his family wherever he goes his children his wife is everywhere with him that says a lot about a person unwavering support can be hard for outsiders to understand because since trump's election the daily lives of people in appalachia have not improved poverty is pervasive here and It's led to some strange happenings in the middle of the night in this small town dozens of cars speeding into a fairground here right now if you turn right here exhausted it's ok I suggest you come back here around three or four good point it trip you up cause it makes you think it's like everyone is lined up like you're going to a concert and you get there just keep your teeth drilled or something , you know these people are gathering here at mass it's just to see a doctor because every year here for a weekend everything is going to be put on this line it's a doctor just a non-profit organizes free consultations oh, there is a great need for many of your families in this area are working class families struggling to choose between paying for life saving medication or knowing what to buy for the week so it's a shame to have to do it this way , but they must take care of their people and this is our people and this is the way we take care of our people.

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d despite improved healthcare under former President Barack Obama 28 million Americans remain without insurance coverage Cyrenia has arrived with her family her niece jennifer and her three children all need to see the dentist medi Call rates in the The US are the most expensive in the world and unaffordable for a large part of the population, so staying up all night seems like a small price to pay. to do it absolutely the alternative is not good so you have to have the family arrive the night before because here the rule is by order of arrival at six in the morning the doors open the organizers call our patients by their number 127 Someone is deeply asleep in car 128 so next time we'll call in groups of 20 again, once inside the patients are in a full scale field hospital, images reminiscent of a humanitarian disaster and yet this is America modern here people. they are treated in turn by a large number of volunteer nurses family doctors but also specialists who can treat more complicated diseases the most notable part takes place in this sports center transformed into a gigantic dental car Facilities around the clock 60 dentists drill to scale they fill and extract teeth as she surveys the scene Cyrenia is overwhelmed with emotion it's beautiful all the people who volunteer and so many people who get help in need before my sister passed away they pulled all her teeth out and she didn't have any tooth to replace and she was younger than me now and she was my older sister so i think about what happened to her health problems because of her teeth and they are important oh my god she will also see it a young student who he will soon complete his medical degree before treating Cyrenia.

She has had time to familiarize herself with the work. 15 for you today, yes, thank you very much, yes, very good day, yes, it's quite good there, yes, he will spend a quarter of an hour extracting Cyrenia's tooth. Here is the 16th of the day like I have a big mouth but no time to take a breather here cyrenia now proceed to the locker room thanks for the whole denture study like the rest of the temporary facility is run by volunteers and funded by donations don't lie down just relax your lips relax first the patients have dental impressions made in this room and next door a new set of teeth is created in less than two hours sirenia you can look forward to showing off your new smile here we go how does it feel uncomfortable but it's ok, oh my god you have teeth all the way yes you're welcome darling i want a big smile greetings thank you you know i can smile and feel that's what i want that's what i need if the family had paid for all this treatment it would have cost them more than three thousand dollars luckily in the united states there are people Taking action personally to help those in need on the other side of the country, a man has embarked on a mission to fight poverty that has plagued the sidewalks of his city, a place usually associated with wi The rich and famous instead of the depressed This is Los Angeles Los Angeles and Hollywood Elvis, 38, is appalled by how conditions in Los Angeles have continued to deteriorate in recent years.

It is not a third world country, it is one of the richest countries in the world. the world is almost like a movie prop they don't it's hard to understand that like everyday this is how people live los angeles the sprawling city of angels and the glamorous heart of hollywood cinema and yet today is the capital of america's homeless here in recent years the number of homeless has risen from 33,000 to 59,000 in the shadows of the city skyline it's the dark side of the california dream when i was a kid living here not it was nothing like it is now i'm gone for almost two decades and i came back a few years ago and it just amazes me that it's going to go up because every month the cost of everything keeps going up there's no regulation so you know apartment ow landlords and landlords can pool the money you know the rent when they want but no one's paychecks are getting bigger outraged by growing homelessness elvis quit his job as a sales assistant lives on his partner's salary leah who works at a university this way elvis can spend all his time helping the less fortunate a little further out of town a woman has moved under this bridge elvis and leah visit her regularly she's fine the baby has been living here for five years in a small shop that she shares with another woman they are desperately vulnerable to the dangers of the street and have already been assaulted multiple times well look at it everywhere they just opened it up and uh now she doesn't even have a door when you sleep here at night there are no lights right under here either so it's very dark and especially as a woman that's very scary even if a man is it's scary because anyone can walk in the dark. lk just about doing what he wants to help these people elvis wants to do more than just bring them bottles of water his main project is tucked away in the courtyard of this church he came up with the idea of ​​building little wooden houses for the homeless who you're so small but inside elvis and leah have thought of everything to make these people's daily lives better window arms yeah so what does it mean if someone tries to open the window the alarm will go off? this right here allows people to sleep when people sleep they may think they can do better they feel better they want something better the house is also equipped with a fire alarm a light and a phone charger that are powered by a solar panel each cabin costs the equivalent of a thousand euros funded by donations collected online but elvis's well-intentioned initiative is illegal the mayor of los angeles has prohibited him from installing his huts on the sidewalks of the city elvis will go ahead despite the fact that this morning he will deliver one of them to a homeless couple in need hey hi i'm elvis hi i'm krista nice to meet you this is our dog brownie hi brownie krista is 32 and three months pregnant lives on the sidewalk on the sidewalk with her partner andre how are you god man i was hoping you wouldn't leave though that's the mother bee for four years now the couple have been sleeping in this little I mean cart that's a health hazard on wheels yeah man that's like bugging the bed I mean eat food eat me a lot man I could say you can everything all these different little brands man mostly, he can't have good hygiene, elvis can't stay. the trick is to do this, do this and leave before the police show up the little house weighs 400 kilograms but your project doesn't make everyone happy why don't you go back home and enjoy the air conditioning? a neighbor expresses her dissatisfaction she is against her why she doesn't want it in front of her house she is calling the police so we have to hurry and we will pray that they are allowed to stay with her house.

That's how it works in Los Angeles. A few days after filming, the police threatened to destroy the cabin unless Elvis removed it. He and the couple made it. to move it to privately owned land, in the end the disgruntled neighbor got her way, but we find people in other places trying to challenge the ostracism of the homeless in pretty clever ways, our next stop is Texas and the city Waco conservative, has about 50 churches that serve their 120,000 residents here once a month a religious community hosts a funny program people come from all over the United States to participate you know what's going to happen to you no no no no for 24 hours These high school students are going to live, eat and sleep in a role-play scenario very similar to 20 other participants, all of middle-class origin, each of whom has paid 60 euros to participate.

Janet Durrell came up with the idea 25 years ago. go with her husband, a pastor, the remarkable simulation project has so far had 30,000 participants, the goal is to create compassionate care for humanity and poverty, everyone can have the american dream, but when you are trapped in poverty, in cycles of poverty you gotta have a lawyer to get you out ladies you have 15 minutes says janet darrell to truly experience the life of a homeless you need to start looking like them in this thrift store hand. Participants are encouraged to dress in appropriate clothing jeans and these little booties but I think they will keep the mosquitoes off my ankles so I'm happy about that right now it doesn't seem like much of a challenge but things are going to complicate more with the second stage.

Sleeping outdoors, although not on the street, but in a safe and fenced yard. Marta, 53, however, is a bit worried. You know I'm afraid of insects. I am afraid of insects. p of her was herhusband who convinced her to participate doesn't seem like a real homeless situation true true yes yes no it smells like poop doesn't smell like urine no rats running everywhere yes no this is definitely a luxury homeless yes yes sure , actually, that's a consolation, however, although it won't be a very long night, good morning everyone, at six o'clock the next day, janet durrell gives everyone a wake-up call and they don't look particularly good .

Rested come on Martha it's not a real homeless situation they're safe they're safer than being on the streets but this isn't as safe as being home with your family so it gives them a little more of reality than they live. in the environment in your body, so tonight it takes about 24 hours to really start to understand that this could be really difficult for the next stage of the program. Participants are sent to downtown Waco. Their task today is to find something to eat by themselves and without money you can smell the food, yes then we should ask this guy who can.

I am not able to beg or solicit people in restaurants like in many other cities.in the united states begging is a punishable offense it is also prohibited to rummage through garbage bins oh there is no food on city property and claiming anything from them is considered stealing to

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the homeless in waco are forced to break the law our two participants are not going to find anything to eat and after two hours of walking the streets in 40 degree heat marta feels faint she calls her husband to to pick her up but i feel i'm too weak so i'm joking about yourself like you're too old and fat and i can't do it you have learned something about yourself and what you would like what it would be like to be homeless at your age yes and it would be hard is the are we really ready to tackle poverty while the president claims america has never been so great 40 million of trump's fellow citizens are still trapped ados in the clutches of poverty you