Evicted

In the United States of America along the western shore of Lake Michigan rests Milwaukee Wisconsin. The author of Evicted, Matthew Desmond, takes us into the lives of some of the most poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Milwaukee where families spend more than fifty percent of their limited earnings on housing. For many of the people within the book, eviction and hardship have become a daily part of life and even the smallest crisis can further complicate an already difficult situation. Scott was a nurse whose license come to be revoked after becoming dependent on painkillers and other opioids due to a back injury and the loss of his close friends. Arleen is a single mother of two boys who is suffering from chronic depression. Doreen is also a single mother of four children and three grandchildren who is living off of state-funded child support and Social Security Income. Lamar, a former navy affiliate, had lost his legs and looks after the children in his neighborhood despite having limited funds to care …show more content…
14). Desmond increases this understanding to the readers when explaining how Lamar does work like painting and cleaning basements for Sherrena (his landlord) to aid in paying his back rent only to discover that Sherrena did not believe that he did a ‘good job’ and refused to credit—or credited only a portion—for the work he completed (Desmond, 2016, pp. 14, 26). Once a stable and a well-respected person, Lamar’s life changed after discovering crack. He became dependent on crack. His life transformed after losing his legs due to frostbite and his financial situation worsened with time. Receiving a mere $150 in food stamps and little, if any, help due to disability from SSI, Lamar hustled where he could and sold his food stamps when he needed to; at times barely making end