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  1. #1
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
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    American Dream derailed Family ended up living in shelter

    This article doesn't identify the immigration status of the family so I felt it belonged here instead of News.

    Tuesday, December 15th 2009, 4:00 AM

    BY ELIZABETH LAZAROWITZ

    JUST A few years ago, the American dream seemed within reach for Marvin Cortez and Sorange Reyes.

    Cortez, 33, and Reyes, 27, who emigrated to Brooklyn from Panama and Puerto Rico in 2005, had a house, a car, two jobs, and a comfortable life for themselves and their kids in Atlanta.

    But after a serious illness forced Cortez to quit his job with an airline catering company last year, both he and Reyes found themselves out of work, out of luck and living in a Brownsville homeless shelter.

    "I never imagined this," Panamanian-born Cortez said through a translator. "Never."

    They are just one of 6,300 Brooklyn families with kids that have applied for temporary housing so far this year, up 21% from the same period a year ago, and up 51% from two years ago.

    With the number of homeless families in the city at a record high, the Daily News has partnered with the Brooklyn Community Foundation to highlight their struggles.

    Donations to the foundation's Caring Neighbors Holiday Campaign will pay for "Caring Neighbors Kits" filled with books and toys for about 600 homeless kids.

    "It's a very simple, human way to bring a bit of joy and excitement and for young people to know that their Brooklyn neighbors do care about them," said the foundation's president, Marilyn Gelber.

    Cortez, who this year was diagnosed with anemia caused by a Vitamin B12 deficiency, began having trouble breathing in the spring of 2008, and could sometimes barely walk, he said.

    When making ends meet on Reyes' pay as a leasing assistant at an Atlanta property-management firm became overwhelming, the couple, with sons Roy, 8, and Josue, 4, and daughter Amie, 2, moved into the home of Cortez's sister in East New York.

    "I sold what I could, and what I couldn't sell, I left," said Reyes. "All we have is our clothes."

    Reyes took a job as a manager at a McDonald's in downtown Brooklyn, where the couple had originally met as co-workers years before, but had to quit because of health problems when she became pregnant with son Marvin, now 5 months old, she said.

    With no income, another child on the way and 10 people already crammed into a two-bedroom apartment for nearly a year, the family was forced to find other accommodations.

    In April, they moved into a shelter run by the nonprofit CAMBA, and the couple began job placement programs.

    The upheaval hasn't been easy on the kids. Roy is repeating the first grade, which Reyes believes is the result of the boy changing schools twice in two years.

    Although Cortez's health has improved, finding work in a city where the jobless rate has hit a 16-year high has been a challenge. He said he has applied to dozens of jobs and been to about 17 interviews since January. While none have come through so far, he's hoping to snag a position as a baggage porter at Kennedy Airport.

    "I feel bad," said Cortez, who dropped out of high school to work, but got his GED in 1998. "I want to find a job and get out of the shelter."

    Reyes is hoping to find work as well. "My dream is to be in our own home and be in a stable place for our kids."

    elazarowitz@nydailynews.com

    Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bro ... #community#ixzz0ZmHQjKye

    Posted to comments:

    ratbstard
    10:50:50 AM
    Dec 15, 2009

    I'd like to know if Cortez and Reyes are married? If so why keep different last names? I also have to wonder if Cortez is a LEGAL resident or an ILLEGAL Alien. This PC rag refuses to include immigration status when telling this and other similar SOB stories. It also fails to include which social services this family is receiving and I have to ask WHY?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    Senior Member ReggieMay's Avatar
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    With no income, another child on the way and 10 people already crammed into a two-bedroom apartment for nearly a year, the family was forced to find other accommodations.
    I'll bet that endeared them to their neighbors.

    he's hoping to snag a position as a baggage porter at Kennedy Airport.
    I'd like to know if they guy's legal before he gets hired to work at an airport.

    Someone tell these folks that the American Dream is for Americans.
    "A Nation of sheep will beget a government of Wolves" -Edward R. Murrow

    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    Senior Member oldguy's Avatar
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    Out of work, sick, think birth control./
    I'm old with many opinions few solutions.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
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    A NEW LOW FOR THE DAILY SNOOZE!
    I just visited the source link and noticed the article online has been edited!
    So I posted this comment:

    ratbstard
    7:24:50 PM
    Dec 16, 2009

    This article has been edited! It originally stated: "Cortez, 33, and Reyes, 27, who emigrated to Brooklyn from Panama and Puerto Rico in 2005" As I still have yesterdays paper I checked and yes it said "in 2005."

    I sent the author an E-mail about it.


    Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bro ... #community#ixzz0ZuBFi261
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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