Homeless in America

Homeless in America

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The Cervantes and Guzman families are homeless. They have banded together in an effort to keep the children together as a family, and not taken away and separated in foster homes.

But after three weeks of sleeping at a campsite they had to find a cheap motel room for the night, so the children could walk to school.

. Santa Paula, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Benita Guzman, 40, and two of her children were living in a campsite with her niece, Angelica Cervantes, 36, and five of her children.

. Santa Paula, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Camping’s not easy when you’re a pair of homeless single mothers trying to keep seven children fed, clothed, washed and in school.

. Santa Paula, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

At first they slept in a rental van. Then they picked up a couple of tents at a thrift store.

Now, after three weeks of sleeping at a campsite in Santa Paula, the family can no longer afford the rental van to ferry the kids to school in Port Hueneme.

. Santa Paula, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Melinda Guzman, 12, (right) and Alma Cervantes, 4, play in the campground.

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

They decide to put their belongings in storage and find a cheap motel room for the night, so the children can walk to school.

“I’m living moment by moment, day by day,” says Guzman.

“I’m holding it all together. There are times I break down. I try not to let the kids see me. They tell me, ‘If you crack, we all crack. If you break Mom, we all break, because you’re the one who holds us together.’ So that’s what keeps me going.”

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

The children rush excitedly towards the first bed they’ve seen in weeks, and begin bouncing on it while trying to work the television remote control.

“Let’s see in the drawers if they have clothes for us,” says Tomas Cervantes, 6, as he starts searching.

Veronica Cervantes, 9, lies on the bed and pulls out a wobbly tooth. “The tooth fairy’s not going to come,” taunts Tomas.

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

The children become hungrier as the night wears on, as they wait for Guzman to return with dinner. By the time Guzman returns with a bucket of fried chicken, a couple of the kids are already sleeping.

Six-year-old Tomas drowsily bites into piece after piece. He burrows under the covers in the only remaining space, at the foot of the bed, and falls asleep with a bag of chips in his hand.

His brother Francisco Gona, 15, tries to do his homework by reading a textbook about Europe in the 1930s, but looks up occasionally as Cervantes watches The Dukes of Hazzard on TV.

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

California is ranked the fifth highest state in the nation for its percentage of homeless children.

Children who are homeless are more likely to suffer from acute and chronic medical illnesses, finds the study. They go hungry at twice the rate of other children. They have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, withdrawal, and aggression.

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Benita Guzman drops her niece Angelica Cervantes' children at school.

“I’ve taught them all – you finish school,” says Guzman. She worries about the nightmares and anxiety attacks the children experience, but is determined to pull them through.

. Port Hueneme, Ca., United States. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Melinda Guzman walks into her school.