These families lose jobs, lose homes and lose belongings. But they do not lose hope; they survive.
Robin Myer, a 55-year-old mother in Grand Haven, could always do something to feed her daughters, but she could not do anything when the bank refused her partial payments and warned her about foreclosure. Luckily, she found sales agent Mary VanderLaan of Prudential Clyde Hendrick Realtors, who helped her sell her home within two months, before it went into foreclosure.
Myer lost her home and earned nothing from the sale, but she maintained her good credit, making her qualified for another loan in the near future.
Theresa Hanson, a 51-year-old resident of Detroit, Michigan, has been crushed by three losses one after the other: her job of three decades, her husband to divorce and her home to foreclosure. But she is strong.
She has started studying at M-Tec to get certified as a nursing assistant with help from a federal retraining program that gives her $1,200 monthly. She goes to the Gleaners food truck parked near the Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church every Friday to get groceries.
Spring Lake couple Joe and Toni Gundy both lost their jobs almost simultaneously in November 2007, when they had just taken out a home loan. Fortunately, their savings carried them through to 2008, without going through foreclosure. When their account was down to 26 dollars, Joe found work at the Sara Lee facility in Zeeland.
Fifty-five-year-old Shirley Perez survives on unemployment money, local services and Gleaners food. She lost her house cleaning job when the firm she works left Michigan.
Young mother Kayla Thompson lives with her boyfriend and their two children at a mobile home park in Fruitport. They are struggling under piles of debt and threats of eviction every now and then. But they get by.
Similar stories are lived out by many more in Michigan foreclosure-laden neighborhoods, as more and more homeowners are driven out from foreclosure homes. They do not lose faith; they survive.
