Tough Times in Cleveland: Pictorial

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Boarded Up

Foreclosures in Cleveland are up 50% over last year.

Eviction Notices

Warning and final eviction notices are lined up in the office of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department.

Bearer of Bad News

Detective Robert Cole, an officer in the Sheriff's Department, delivers notices to residents whose homes have been repossessed.

Bad Block

Every home on this street has been boarded up or abandoned.

Hard Lessons

Residents facing foreclosure turn to ESOP, Empowering and Strenghtening Ohio's People, a community group that connects borrowers with lenders in hopes of establishing a reasonable solution to mortgage payments.

Forced Out

The elderly woman who lived in this house was unable to keep up with her payments. Friends and family help her move out her belongings.

Suddenly Homeless

Darin Roseberry, 46, and his two daughters come to the Catholic Charities Emergency Center after being unexpectedly removed from their apartment. Though they paid their rent on time, their landlord had failed to meet his loan obligations and the building was repossessed. When Denise, 20, was told that the family would be split up and that she would be forced to live in a women's shelter, she broke down in tears.

Reprieve

Catholic Charities paid for the Roseberry family to spend one night in a hotel. The following day, they were placed in separate shelters.

Dangerous

Squatters, drug dealers and junkies frequently take up residence in the abandoned homes.

Empty

The Randell Park Mall, once one of the nation's largest shopping centers, is still operating, but very few of its stores are open for business.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29...1585584,00.html

[Otto 83]

Not exactly breaking news for Cleveland (or other parts of the country)...