There were no bigger issues fueling the chaotic 2016 election than jobs and the increasing number of Americans who feel that a recovering economy simply passed them by. From the rural towns of Eastern Kentucky to the heart of Silicon Valley, this program from our partners at PBS World highlights stories of both struggles and solutions — and sheds new light on the growing economic divide felt by millions of Americans.
TRANSCRIPT
♪♪
>> On this special edition of
"PBS NewsHour Weekend",
the economic divide.
>> The American dream has been
very real for millions and
millions of people over the
years, but there's been an
American nightmare that has
accompanied that, and that's
where people that equally have
tired to get educated and worked
hard and had good habits and
found themselves living a life
that's been on the edge
throughout their entire lives,
and the same for their children.
>> Amid stories of hardship and
struggle...
>> He ended up in prison for
seven years.
His mother passed away when he
was in there.
>> That's worst thing that could
have ever happened to me, 'cause
I think about that every time
I look at somebody selling dope
on the street, but I'm like,
"Don't you know the people that
you love can leave you while you
in the midst of your
destruction?
Don't you know that?"
>> ...emerges new thinking,
innovative solutions, and hope
for the future.
>> If I can, I'm gonna stay
right here and try to get
through this school that I'm
doing, because it's here.
HVAC work is here.
>> Next on "Chasing the Dream:
Poverty and Opportunity
in America" -- a
"PBS NewsHour Weekend" special.
>> "Chasing the Dream:
Poverty and Opportunity
in America" --
a "PBS NewsHour Weekend" special
is made possible by...
"PBS NewsHour Weekend" is made
possible by...
...the John and Helen Glessner
Family Trust, supporting
trustworthy journalism that
informs and inspires.
Corporate funding is provided by
Mutual of America -- designing
customized, individual,
and group retirement products.
That's why we're your retirement
company.
Additional support has been
provided by...
and by the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting, and by
contributions to your PBS
station from viewers like you.
From the Tisch WNET Studios at
Lincoln Center in New York,
this is "Chasing the Dream."
>> I'm Alison Stewart.
There were no bigger issues
fueling the chaotic 2016
election season than jobs,
opportunity, and the increasing
number of Americans who feel
that a recovering economy has
simply passed them by.
As part of "Chasing the Dream,"
our ongoing series of reports on
poverty and opportunity in
America, featured on this
broadcast and all across public
media, we've been traveling
across the country finding
stories of both struggles and
solutions, and we want to share
some of that reporting with you
tonight.
We begin with an aspect of
poverty that's often less
visible.
Of the estimated 45 million
Americans now living below the
poverty line, more than
7.5 million live in rural areas.
Eastern Kentucky, coal-mining
country, is one place where
poverty has persisted for
decades.
A plan created under the Obama
Administration, what are known
as Promise Zones, has aimed to
alleviate that.
The "NewsHour's" Megan Thompson
traveled there and has our
report.
>> In this South Central
mountain country, over a third
of the population is faced with
chronic unemployment.
>> For as long as anyone can
remember, the coal country of
Eastern Kentucky has struggled.
In 1964,
President Lyndon Johnson came
through here after he declared
the war on poverty.
This is the area that became the
face of his campaign.
>> And we're just not willing to
accept the necessity of poverty.
>> Back then, the poverty rate
in some areas was around 60%.
Eastern Kentucky has made big
strides in the 50 years since
Lyndon Johnson came through
here.
But even still, the area
continues to struggle today.
The poverty rate in
Eastern Kentucky has dropped,
but, in some parts, still hovers
around 30%.
Unemployment in some counties is
more than 10%.
That's much higher than the
national average.
And the region is still
dependent on coal, which has
meant trouble as the industry's
gone south.
How big is the coal industry?
>> Everything here stems off of
coal.
>> Like many here,
Tobey Miller's roots run deep,
and they run through the coal
mines.
>> Well, my papaw, he worked in
the mines.
Used to tell me stories about
when he moved here.
>> Miller's papaw, his
grandfather, bought the family
farm in Knox County in 1941 with
the money he earned from coal.
Miller's dad worked in coal and,
straight out of high school,
Miller did, too, welding the
heavy machinery used in the
mines.
Miller's family, his wife, two
daughters, and granddaughter,
lived well.
He earned more than $50,000 a
year.
That's double the median
household income around here.
But then a year ago, Miller was
told his job was being cut.
>> I've got kids that have
needs, that I couldn't provide
for.
I guess, actually, I got
depressed real bad, and...
I-I was just scared of losing
everything.
>> Miller says his family's farm
has helped him get by.
He grows most of his own food
and already chopped firewood for
winter.
>> That'll be my heat.
>> After his unemployment checks
ran out, he did odd jobs for
neighbors to stay afloat.
>> You just can't go out here
and find a job that suits you.
I mean, it just ain't here.
>> Since the 1970s, more than
130,000 coal jobs have been lost
in the U.S., a decline of about
50%.
Coal employment in
Eastern Kentucky's now at a
historic low.
More than 7,000 jobs have been
lost since 2008.
>> The thing that hasn't
happened at an adequate rate is
the diversification of the local
economy.
>> University of Kentucky
economist and poverty expert
James Ziliak says a vicious
cycle is at work.
Like other persistently poor
areas, Eastern Kentucky's
high-school and college
graduation rates are lower than
the rest of the country.
So few other industries,
increasingly in need of highly
skilled workers, have located
here.
>> I think the recognition has
come at this point in time that
coal -- It's not gonna be the
engine of job growth going
forward.
>> There are many reasons for
coal's long decline --
Increased mechanization,
a dwindling coal supply,
the low cost of natural gas,
and stricter environmental
regulations.
>> While the EPA and bureaucrats
try to kill Kentucky's coal
industry...
>> The job losses are a hot
topic in the Senate race here.
Republican incumbent
Mitch McConnell has tried to
capitalize on the latest round
of environmental rules proposed
by the Obama Administration last
summer.
Even democratic challenger
Alison Lundergan Grimes has kept
her distance from the
administration.
>> I don't agree with what the
President has done, his energy
philosophy.
>> While President Obama's
blamed right or wrong for the
coal layoffs in Kentucky, he's
also getting some credit for a
new plan to boost the economy
unveiled earlier this year.
>> We're here today to announce
the first five Promise Zones in
America.
>> The Promise Zone Initiative
will fight poverty by
concentrating aid in specific
regions of the U.S.
It's not a new idea --
Republican Congressman and
Housing Secretary Jack Kemp
pushed enterprise zones starting
in the '80s.
President Clinton promoted
empowerment zones.
They appeal to the left and the
right because they use tax
breaks to spur job growth.
President Obama proposed tax
cuts for the Promise Zones, but
they have to be passed by
Congress, a prospect considered
unlikely for now.
And there's no guaranteed
federal aid -- just a promise of
priority for federal grants.
The Promise Zone in Kentucky
includes parts of eight counties
in the southeast part of the
state, where Tobey Miller lives.
Jerry Rickett led the effort to
apply for the
Promise Zone designation.
It's no secret that this part of
the country has been struggling
with a lot of these issues for
many years.
What is it about this Promise
Zone that you think is gonna
actually make a difference?
>> It gets back to the
partners all pulling together.
You know, one individual group
can only do so much, but if you
weave us together into a rope,
we can be really, really strong.
>> The people of the region have
said, "This is it.
We got to do something now, or
else we might not be able to
pull back."
>> In fact, the Promise Zone has
brought together a new coalition
of local governments, schools
and community organizations that
will implement the Promise Zone
goals -- diversifying the
economy, creating jobs, growing
small business, and improving
education and retraining.
The work is just getting
under way, but Rickett points to
a couple successful local
initiatives that show how the
Promise Zone could work.
>> We've got to get a
better-educated workforce,
we've got to help the adults
that, you know, need additional
training or retraining.
>> Especially unemployed coal
miners.
Many are leaving in droves to
find work.
So in Hazard, Kentucky, two
Promise Zone partners -- the
community college and a
job-training group -- launched a
new program to teach laid-off
miners to repair electricity and
phone lines.
So far, 39 have graduated and
almost every one has found a
job.
Tobey Miller is also retraining.
At his nearby community college,
he's earning an associate's
degree to repair heating,
air-conditioning, and
ventilation systems, or HVAC.
>> If I can, I'm gonna stay
right here and try to get
through this school that I'm
doing, because it's here.
HVAC work is here.
>> Miller says he wants to start
his own business one day.
Promise Zone supporters
say that's exactly what they
want, too.
>> We really believe in
entrepreneurship, trying to
get businesses to start, trying
to find ways to help the ones
that are here, you know, thrive.
It's really difficult to recruit
industries into
Eastern Kentucky.
>> Because it's so difficult to
recruit outside employers,
Rickett says they need to grow
their own.
Last year, Rickett's group got
an $800,000 federal grant, which
it then loaned to local
manufacturer Clyde Phillips.
He hired 19 people with that
money and plans to hire dozens
more.
When we're talking about
thousands of people losing their
jobs and thousands of people
already unemployed, will one or
two jobs here or a dozen jobs
there make that difference?
>> Well, it's the only
opportunity we have.
I think you have to work
within -- You have to be
realistic and work within the
areas that you can have progress
and success in.
>> I do get the sense that
there's greater energy and
enthusiasm to tackle the
problem.
But time will tell whether or
not it will ultimately pay off,
and, clearly, we're hoping that
it does.
>> I've never depended on
that before.
>> Like many others here,
Tobey Miller blames the
government for the coal layoffs,
but admits he's been helped by
federal programs, too.
A local Promise Zone partner
signed him up for
federally supported programs
that have helped pay
his mortgage and provide a
stipend for a few months.
>> It has been a very big bonus
for me.
I mean, it saved my bacon.
But the problem I have with it
is, if they'd left things alone,
everything would've still been
going along just fine.
>> Miller says his dream is to
save enough money to send his
youngest daughter to a four-year
college.
She'd be the first in the family
to go.
>> In urban areas across the
country, there's another aspect
of poverty to consider, known as
concentrated poverty.
It has existed for decades in
neighborhoods where jobs are
low-paying or even nonexistent.
But now in some of these areas,
local officials are working with
a who's who of the business
community to reverse the trend.
This report takes a close look
at how the city of Atlanta
is trying to tackle the issue.
Once again, Megan Thompson
reports.
>> Jimmy Williams has lived on
the southside of Atlanta for
most of his 37 years.
Even before he was born, white
residents of the neighborhoods
around here had begun leaving
for the suburbs.
And later, big employers, like a
nearby General Motors plant,
shut down.
Many areas around here have been
struggling for decades.
>> When I was growing up,
just...wow.
When I was growing up -- In some
of these streets you dare not
walk down.
Out of everybody that I grew up
with -- Let's see.
I can count probably about five
of them that's still living and
not in prison.
>> After high school, things
went south for Williams, too.
His father had died, his mom had
cancer and needed help paying
medical bills.
Williams' minimum-wage job at a
grocery store wasn't cutting it.
So Williams says he did the only
thing he could see to make
enough money to pay the bills.
He started dealing cocaine.
Did you see people doing what
you did around you when you grew
up?
Is that kind of how you --
>> Yeah, I mean, that was the
entire neighborhood.
That's what it was.
That was the whole neighborhood.
That's how I got into it.
>> He ended up in prison for
seven years.
His mother passed away when he
was in there.
>> And that's the worst thing
that could have ever happened to
me 'cause I think about that
every time I look at somebody
selling dope on the street, but
I'm like, "Don't you know the
people that you love can leave
you while you in the midst of
your destruction?
Don't you know that?"
>> Stories like Williams' are
common in many neighborhoods on
Atlanta's southside.
Experts say areas like this
around the nation suffer from
what they call concentrated
poverty.
>> It's a small number of
neighborhoods where you have a
large number of America's lowest
income people.
>> Rolf Pendall of
the Urban Institute in
Washington, D.C., says there's
been a dramatic increase in the
number of people living in
high-poverty neighborhoods,
almost 80% since 2000 --
Places where people with money
have fled and companies have
disinvested, much of it
compounded by a legacy of racism
and segregation, he says.
>> And those who are left behind
find themselves increasingly
isolated in neighborhoods where
no one wants to invest and few
people want to come in if they
have a choice.
The businesses don't want to
come in.
Employers don't want to locate
there.
So, those are neighborhoods
of -- kind of almost
neighborhoods of last resort.
It's extremely difficult for the
people who remain behind to get
ahead in the economy.
>> How to turn around areas of
concentrated poverty has been a
question American cities have
long grappled with.
But experts like Pendall point
to one approach in another
neighborhood about six miles
away on the eastside of Atlanta.
East Lake has become a model,
supported by America's second
richest person, investor
Warren Buffett.
>> And the American dream has
been very real for millions and
millions of people over the
years, but there's been an
American nightmare that has
accompanied that, and that's
where people that equally have
tried to get educated and worked
hard and had good habits have
found themselves living a life
that's been on the edge
throughout their entire lives,
and the same for their children.
And America can do better than
that.
>> In 2009, Buffett,
Atlanta real-estate developer
Tom Cousins, and former
hedge-fund manager
Julian Robertson helped fund a
new organization called
Purpose Built Communities.
The group now advises local
nonprofits and governments in
high-poverty areas in 11 cities,
including New Orleans, Columbus,
and Buffett's hometown of Omaha.
Its strategy is to fight
concentrated poverty on multiple
fronts all at once.
It often starts by tearing down
low-income housing projects and
replacing them with mixed-income
units.
But it goes beyond housing.
The model also includes building
new schools, providing health
and wellness initiatives, and
there's even job-placement
services, all of it coordinated
by a local nonprofit.
>> You couldn't do it piecemeal.
You really had to have something
that was transformative in
nature.
>> Purpose Built Communities'
work is modeled on what began as
an experiment on the eastside
of Atlanta back in the '90s --
A time when, across Atlanta and
the U.S., big public-housing
projects were being torn down
and replaced with mixed-income
developments.
>> In the 1980s, this was the
only community in the city that
I would not drive to alone.
I was terrified.
>> You were scared to come here.
>> I was scared to come here
alone.
>> Shirley Franklin is the
former mayor of Atlanta and now
the head of
Purpose Built Communities, the
group Warren Buffett supports.
So, when we talk about
concentrated poverty, this was
it.
>> This was one of the worst
examples.
>> The neighborhood was home to
a dangerous housing project
called East Lake Meadows, and
bordered a once-famous golf
course that had also fallen into
disrepair.
But step by step, Tom Cousins,
the City of Atlanta, and other
partners tried their experiment.
They knocked down
East Lake Meadows, and replaced
it with new apartments, half
subsidized, half market-rate.
They built a new charter school.
The wellness part was solved by
opening up a YMCA, and the
neighborhood's first grocery
store in 40 years.
There were job-placement
services for residents, too,
and the East Lake Foundation
was launched to coordinate all
the work.
Like the other mixed-income
developments around Atlanta at
the time, there were also new
rules -- You had to have a job
to live there, and a criminal
record made it harder to get in.
East Lake began to change...
>> What happened at school
today?
>> ...and word was getting out
to people like Marilyn Hack, a
mother of three who was anxious
to move out of a high-poverty
neighborhood.
>> So, there's saying about
being a product of your
environment, and I was just
worried about that, that they'll
get caught up and they won't be
ambitious and they won't --
So that's why when they came
home, it was always, "Wash your
hands, get a snack, homework,"
always.
And I still do it to this day.
>> But you were afraid that no
matter how hard you tried, it
could be that this environment
might impact them in ways that
you just couldn't even control.
>> Yeah.
That's why when a neighbor came
and told me about this community
that, "Oh, there's some place
accepting applications and we
should try it."
>> In 2000, Hack moved into
East Lake.
The single mother who had been
making $10,000 a year as a
nurse's assistant earned two
associate's degrees and found a
new job with the help of the
East Lake job center.
Today, she makes $60,000 a year
as a registered nurse and has
her own business teaching CPR.
Her oldest two kids went to
college, one even got a PhD,
and her 18-year-old is going in
the fall, with a scholarship
from the East Lake Foundation.
>> And my big thing was we're
gonna get college degrees.
We are all gonna get college
degrees.
A two-degree minimum -- That was
my thought, my goal, my
everything.
>> Supporters say Marilyn's
story illustrates just how
East Lake has improved the lives
of the low-income people who
came to live there.
There are other measurements,
too.
Violent crime there is down by
90%, and student test scores
have risen dramatically.
A federal program is even now
trying an approach similar to
East Lake's.
The golf course was also
restored and today hosts the
culminating event during the
PGA Playoff Championships.
The club's proceeds help fund
the East Lake Foundation, which
continues the work in the
community, the work now being
replicated in other cities.
>> Here at East Lake, you have a
very wealthy man who's made this
his personal project.
You've got a very famous golf
course next door that's
generated millions of dollars to
help support the work.
Those are some really unique
circumstances here.
How can other cities replicate
the model when they might not be
so lucky?
>> Well, every city and every
community has some assets, and
our model does not require a
golf course.
And we have found that money is
not the hardest part of this.
The biggest obstacle is
committed leadership who's
willing to work across all
sectors and with all sectors of
the community to find a plan
that works for them.
>> The development at East Lake
didn't come without
controversies, either.
Rising property values mean the
surrounding areas become less
affordable.
And there are fewer apartments
for low-income families than
there used to be.
The original project had 650
subsidized units.
Today there are only 270 -- The
rest are market-rate.
One study found that many of the
people forced to leave when
housing projects were torn down
across Atlanta just ended up in
other high-poverty areas.
Did the project solve the
problem of concentrated poverty,
or were people pushed out?
Was the problem pushed to other
parts of Atlanta?
>> We have a problem, if we're
not willing to shake the whole
thing up.
In other words, if we're not
looking, we're not willing to
change the paradigm.
So the question is, "What might
work?"
We believe that you have to have
that mix of income, both to
attract the amenities and the
support, but also to well serve
the people who are at the lowest
end.
>> Some things need to change
around here.
>> Jimmy Williams hopes his
neighborhood on the southside
of Atlanta will change the way
the eastside has.
>> It's an apocalypse that's
happening around us every day,
and it's called poverty.
>> After prison, he started his
own contracting business and is
dedicated to improving the
impoverished neighborhoods
around here, rehabbing abandoned
homes, and building an urban
farm -- Doing what he can to
keep kids from falling into the
same traps that he did, traps
that just don't seem to go away.
>> Watch the entire
"Chasing The Dream" series
online, including stories about
manufacturing jobs returning to
South Carolina, efforts to
revitalize the rust-belt city of
Youngstown, Ohio, and how one
C.E.O. raised the minimum wage
of his employees to $70,000 a
year.
Visit pbs.org/chasingthedream.
♪♪
Affordable housing continues
to be a struggle for those in
poverty, and even for those we
might think of as a middle
class.
Nowhere is this more visible
than in the high-tech mecca of
Silicon Valley.
Faced with some of the most
expensive housing in the nation,
many residents have simply been
priced out of the market.
And amidst the wealth, some have
been forced into cars, vans, and
RVs as places to live.
Special Correspondent
Joanne Jennings reports on how
this trend exposes an unintended
consequence of an economic boom.
>> Mountain View, California, is
home to hundreds of technology
firms.
From NASA's Supercomputing
Division to tech giant Google,
which alone employs 20,000
people here.
The city's unemployment rate is
2.5% -- half the national
average.
And the median household income
tops $100,000 a year.
But there are perils to this
prosperity, says Mountain View
Mayor Pat Showalter.
>> So many people have come here
that the rents, just because of
supply and demand, have gone
through the roof.
>> The median rent for an
apartment or house is $4,390 a
month, a 54% jump since 2012.
>> It doesn't matter whether you
make, you know, $100,000 or not.
You haven't planned for a 54%
rent increase.
And it's caused a lot of people
to be displaced.
>> A small but growing number of
the city's 80,000 residents are
now living in recreational
vehicles, vans, and cars, like
these on this street next to a
park.
>> This is my home, and I'm
happy here.
>> 59-year-old Scott Whaley
moved out of his Mountain View
apartment into a minivan last
November when he lost his job
as a property manager.
>> I just moved into my van.
I said, you know, until I can
find a place.
This is my bedroom back here.
>> Whaley now lives in this
used 1997 RV he bought for
$10,000, depleting his savings.
>> Yes, I would love to have
a home, you know?
However, this is my home.
I'm not homeless.
>> A couple miles away, across
from an office park,
Marcia Christlieb also makes
her home in an RV.
And this is bigger than some of
the studios that you've looked
at?
>> It is.
>> Even though she earns
$65,000 a year as an
environmental consultant for
NASA, Christlieb says it's not
enough to support her and
husband, Dennis, who's looking
for work.
>> The only apartment we've
looked at so far that looks like
it was in a safe neighborhood
for almost $2,400 a month.
So that's a huge portion of a
salary, and we're just gonna
have to give up other
conveniences.
I still can only afford the
things I could afford when I was
making minimum wage 'cause
everything else goes to rent.
>> The Christliebs tried to park
their RV at a proper campsite,
but the only facility in
Mountain View that provided
power and water hookups is now a
construction site.
It closed last year after a
developer bought the property to
build million-dollar townhouses.
This summer, the city of
Mountain View counted 126
vehicles being used as homes.
>> It's very difficult to get
good numbers because homeless
individuals are often trying to
remain hidden.
>> Tom Myers is executive
director of Mountain View's
community services agency.
>> People living in vehicles to
this type of degree and number
is completely new and completely
unheard of in this community.
So people living in their
vehicles is something that we
are really, as a community,
ill-equipped to be able to
handle.
>> [ Chuckles ]
>> Delmi Ruiz is preparing
dinner in the cramped RV she
moved into with her husband and
three kids last November.
Ruiz has worked as a housekeeper
in Mountain View for 10 years.
Her husband cleans offices.
She says the landlord of her
last apartment raised their rent
three times in the year before
they moved out.
>> [ Speaks Spanish ]
>> Interpreter: The rent started
increasing, and we were no
longer able to pay for it.
>> So, why do you stay in
Mountain View?
>> Interpreter: Because we've
always lived in Mountain View.
Before, it was possible to live
here and pay for rent because
it was cheap.
But it's become impossible to
live here.
>> For other displaced residents
who choose to stay in
Mountain View, even an RV is too
expensive.
Dwayne Golstein makes $30,000 a
year as a pathology lab
technician, but he lived in this
rented minivan for two months.
It was retrofitted with a
mattress and window curtains.
He says it was cheaper and had
more privacy than the boarding
house where he'd lived before.
>> $200 a week for a bunk bed in
a room with five other bunk
beds.
>> He saved money, but it wasn't
easy.
>> I really had to sit down and
be honest with myself and say,
"Could I get up every day and
take the necessary, you know,
discipline to not eat after a
certain hour?"
Make sure that I charge my
devices every evening.
Get up in time to, if I need to,
move the van because of parking
tickets and so forth -- do that.
On top of the everyday rigors of
getting dressed and being
presentable for my employment.
>> To keep himself clean and
presentable, for $35 a month,
Golstein joined a 24-hour gym
with showers.
>> It's usually cold in the
evening times when I go to the
gym or when I come in, so I keep
my sweaters.
This is my laundry which I'll
take to the laundromat once a
week.
>> For those living in vehicles
who can't afford a gym
membership, the nonprofit
Dignity on Wheels offers
mobile shower and laundry
services.
For his part, Golstein has moved
back into a shared apartment.
Some Mountain View residents
living in vehicles can easily
afford an apartment, but choose
to save money and rough it.
Brandon, who's 23 and declined
to give his last name, earns
$175,000 a year as a software
engineer.
We agreed not to name his
employer.
He sleeps in this windowless
moving truck parked a few blocks
from his office in
Mountain View.
He says he has all the amenities
he needs at work.
>> So, there are gyms on the
campus where I work.
There are showers at the gyms,
naturally.
They have cafés where you can
grab breakfast, lunch, and
dinner.
So, I thought it didn't make a
lot of sense for me to replicate
that whole environment at home,
especially when I wouldn't even
be taking advantage of it.
>> Brandon's been living in his
truck for more than a year and
writing a blog about his
experience called
"From Inside the Box."
>> It's like a substantial sum
of money that I would have just
been, effectively, burning on
rent.
There's no equity being built up
on anything.
>> The savings helped Brandon
pay off his $20,000 student-loan
debt.
He's now maxing out
contributions to his retirement
plan.
A lot of people are blaming the
high cost of housing on the tech
companies and on the tech
workers.
>> Yeah.
You have all these high-paid
workers coming into the area.
People or landlords know they
can charge more for rent.
Yeah, I mean, it ends up
becoming totally unsustainable
and intractable for people who
don't have the sort of resources
that these tech workers have.
So I think they're perfectly
justified in blaming us.
>> As the largest employer in
Mountain View, Google recognizes
its high salaries have
contributed to an inflated
housing market.
Rebecca Prozan is a public
policy manager at the company's
San Francisco office.
>> Obviously, our footprint
creates pressure, creates
pressure on housing and
transportation, but that
pressure isn't just tech --
It's not just Google.
It is all the industries that
are creating the economy of the
Bay Area.
We all have to work together to
figure out what we are going to
look like and how we're going
to live.
>> Prozan didn't want to address
published reports about a
handful of its employees living
in vehicles to save money.
>> I think the issue is that we
don't necessarily want to
comment on our employees
participating in those
activities.
>> But, she said, Google is
committed to addressing the
problem of homelessness in the
Bay Area.
In Mountain View alone, the
company has pledged $1 million
for a rapid rehousing program.
>> This specific grant will work
to help those who are on the
fringes, either about to lose
their home or about to get into
a home, in the form of
time-limited payments, motel
rooms, things of that nature, to
really make sure that people are
able to have a home and not live
in a car.
>> Several California cities
have prohibited people from
living in vehicles parked on
public streets.
But in 2014, a federal appeals
court struck down a Los Angeles
law that it said...
That caused L.A. and other
cities to rescind their bans.
Certainly, Mountain View
officials hear their share of
complaints.
>> I have mixed feelings.
You know, I feel sorry for the
people that are there, but
it's kind of -- We pay a ton of
rent to live in our building, so
it's kind of -- There's like a
lot of garbage and kind of stuff
around.
>> The sites I saw were mostly
clean, and people living in
vehicles say the police have
been tolerant.
Mountain View Mayor
Pat Showalter says her approach
is to offer help, not
punishment.
>> The intent is to get
everybody the shelter that they
need.
It just doesn't seem like
impounding somebody's vehicle,
charging them many, many dollars
to get it back when they don't
have much money to start with,
and it just seems like, how does
that help?
What's the value of that?
>> On any given night in the
United States, there are about
600,000 people who are homeless.
And according to the Federal
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, more than a third
of them are families -- men,
women, and children.
They sleep in shelters or, if
there's no space, even outdoors.
A growing number of cities are
cracking down on the homeless
sleeping in the streets or in
parks.
One of them is Sarasota,
Florida, where sleeping outside
can lead to a police citation
or even an arrest.
Special Correspondent
Karla Murthy looks at this
contentious issue.
>> Morning.
>> David Cross has lived on the
streets of Sarasota, Florida,
since 2008, when he lost his
home to foreclosure.
The 65-year-old former
gas-station worker now spends
most of his days at the local
library.
>> The library is a safe place.
It's air-conditioned.
You don't have to be bothered by
the so-called riffraff.
>> One night in August, he slept
outside the library, which he
did from time to time.
What time was it when you got
woken up by the police?
>> About 10 past 4:00 in the
morning.
I was sleeping right there.
>> The police issued a trespass
warning, which would have banned
Cross from the library for an
entire year.
>> I wouldn't have known what to
do with myself.
>> The reason Sarasota Police
cited for his warning was a city
ordinance against lodging
out-of-doors, which prohibits
sleeping or camping outside on
public or private property
without permission.
Across the country, advocates
say a growing number of cities
have been criminalizing
homelessness.
According to a survey by the
National Law Center on
Homelessness & Poverty, the
number of cities with city-wide
bans on camping or sleeping
outside has increased 50% since
2011.
>> Being homeless is not a crime
in this country.
>> Michael Barfield is
Vice President of Florida's
chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union.
In September, the ACLU sued
Sarasota on behalf of
David Cross and others,
arguing...
The suit also challenges
Sarasota's ban on panhandling,
arguing that it...
>> They accumulate criminal
convictions that affect their
ability to obtain employment, to
obtain a valid driver's license.
All of these things that would
help them get out of the cycle
of chronic homelessness, the
city is using as tools that keep
them within that cycle.
>> Sarasota is called paradise
by the people who live here.
It's become one of the top-rated
places to retire.
But like many cities around the
country, it's found itself in
the middle of a debate for how
to treat the growing number of
people here living on the
streets.
There are more than 300 people
in the city of Sarasota
classified as "chronically
homeless," meaning they've been
on the streets for more than a
year.
Altogether, there are about
1,400 homeless people in
Sarasota County, an increase of
nearly 70% since 2009.
After the lodging ordinance
passed in 2005,
the National Coalition for the
Homeless declared Sarasota "The
meanest city in the country."
In 2011, the city removed
benches from a park popular
among homeless people.
>> We're trying to deal with the
situation in the most
humanitarian way that we can.
>> Tom Barwin has been the
city manager since 2012 and says
that "meanest city" label is
outdated.
>> As far as these labels,
"Meanest city X or Y" --
I mean, it's really the police
departments and the community
having very few other options or
choices to try to keep the
peace.
>> Police Chief
Bernadette DiPino says her
department is responding to
calls about the homeless from
the community.
>> It was an issue because of
the complaints we got from
citizens about people sleeping
and doing other things in their
doorways and panhandling and
being aggressive in begging for
money, and people sometimes are
just scared by homeless just by
the way they smell or the way
they look or the way they're
acting, so we get a lot of
complaints.
>> But Chief DiPino she says the
city has altered its approach.
Citations for lodging
out-of-doors have fallen nearly
80% since she took over the
department in 2013.
>> Our police department really
shouldn't be the first person
dealing with an individual
that's homeless, although we do
it because we are the ones that
are on the street 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
>> Last year, the police
department and the city
created HOT teams that pair
officers with caseworkers to
connect the homeless with
available services.
I followed a HOT team as it
patrolled a densely wooded area
on the outskirts of Sarasota
where a group of homeless people
had set up an illegal
encampment.
>> Good morning.
>> Instead of issuing citations,
the HOT team provides
information.
>> You have our cards right
there -- Resurrection House.
I'm at the
Health Department on Wednesdays.
>> Calvin Collins is
a HOT team social worker who
works with the homeless all over
the city.
>> Oftentimes, they suffer from
either mental illness or
substance-abuse issues, and we
just have to continue to
motivate them.
And many of these folks have
said, "You know, I don't want
help.
I'm happy where I am."
But we have to continue to
engage them and hopefully one
day, they'll want to change
their situation.
>> Officer Dave Dubendorf says
HOT teams check up on this camp
about once a week.
>> These guys all know me by
first name.
I know them by first name.
They feel very trusting.
They're easy around me.
>> And this guy's gonna help me
get out of here.
>> This guy needs to help
himself get out of here, too.
>> Yep. I know.
>> Officer Dubendorf says the
anti-lodging ordinance is just a
tool in his toolbox.
>> Sometimes we need that tool
to try to drive somebody to want
to get help, 'cause a lot of
these guys, we've been working
at it for years and years.
I mean, if we can use that, it
may not be the right thing, but
you know what?
If it gets them to want to get
back up on their feet and be
safe, I'm all for it.
>> In downtown Sarasota, the
HOT team engages with some
people near the bus station,
including 52-year old
Dorothy Meehan.
>> What do you need to get all
that stuff?
>> Um...
>> Meehan gets around in a
wheelchair since she was
injured in a hit-and-run
accident last year.
Sarasota police have issued her
more than 50 citations, mostly
for minor offenses including
drug possession and carrying an
open container, but also for
lodging out-of-doors and
trespassing.
She's been jailed a dozen times.
>> The reasoning behind a lot of
the city ordinances really have
nothing to do with anything
criminal.
It's basically just that
somebody didn't want to see you
there.
>> Last month, the Florida ACLU
added Meehan as a plaintiff in
its lawsuit challenging the
policy of criminally citing
people for sleeping outside.
>> I understand if it's a
nuisance, all right, and you're
making a big mess or you're
causing a ruckus or there's,
you know, tons of people where
they can't control the
situation.
But if I'm sleeping by myself,
I'm sleeping -- I'm not fighting
with anybody, I'm certainly not
arguing, I'm not drinking,
you know?
I'm sleeping, and I don't see
what the crime is against that.
>> We've talked to a lot of
homeless people here in
Sarasota, and some have said,
"Yeah, you know, when we meet
the police, they are trying to
help us," and some of them don't
feel necessarily that way and
feel like they're just making it
a crime to be homeless.
What's going on there?
>> I really can't answer that,
because the homeless that I've
had dealings with and the
information that I've received
back from people that have gone
out and talked to the homeless
is very positive about our
police department.
Our officers are working very
hard to have relationships with
the people that are out on the
street and try to get them help.
>> It seems like this city has
really changed the way they're
dealing with homeless people in
terms of, you know, having a
caseworker go out with police
officers.
Has that made any difference?
>> I think it has made some
difference.
It is a positive sign.
But, at the same time, the city
is using this sort of
carrot-and-stick approach, and
they don't have the resources to
fulfill the promises they make
to people for assistance.
>> What resources are available
for the homeless in Sarasota is
the center of this debate.
There's only one large homeless
shelter in Sarasota, which is
run by The Salvation Army.
Ethan Frizzell is in charge.
>> So, what are we against?
Drinking, drugging, and dying on
our corner.
What are we for?
Housing.
>> The shelter is zoned for 260
beds, most of which are reserved
for people who enroll in
Salvation Army programs for
things like substance abuse and
help finding housing.
There is room for walk-ins to
stay overnight.
Most stay on these mats, which
are laid out in the cafeteria
after dinner.
Six beds are set aside for the
homeless brought in by the
police.
>> If they're drinking or
whatnot, this is fine.
>> The ordinance says that
before a citation or an arrest
is made, a police officer has to
offer to bring that person to a
shelter, which is usually
The Salvation Army.
But the Florida ACLU lawsuit
argues that the shelter is at or
above capacity most of the time.
>> You either have a shelter or
you don't criminalize behavior
that requires a shelter.
>> Are there days that we're
very full?
Yes, we are.
But it's because some people
come in on days of terrible
weather or whatnot, but they
don't want to come into any
program that will change their
lives or help them to housing.
>> Two years ago, the city of
Sarasota and the county agreed
to build a new emergency
shelter, but officials are now
at odds about the size and
location of any shelter.
The city is now considering a
"Housing First" approach, a
model that's been used in cities
around the country.
It places the chronically
homeless in permanent apartments
first and then offers support
services.
Sarasota estimates it would cost
less than the $10 million a year
the county currently spends on
treating or incarcerating the
homeless.
City Manager Tom Barwin says
he's confident the city's
ordinances pass constitutional
muster and calls the lawsuit a
distraction that misses the
larger national issue.
>> I don't think it's advancing
any solutions.
We've got this huge, gaping hole
in the mental-health
infrastructure.
That's the real problem, and
here in Florida, we're the
third-most populated state in
the country, yet we're 49th in
funding mental health.
>> David Cross appealed his
trespass warning to the police
and won, so Cross can still hang
out inside the library, but he
still worries about run-ins with
the police.
>> They're doing everything
possible to get the homeless
element out of the city.
>> So, then, why not leave?
>> Where am I gonna go?
It's beautiful here.
I'm 65 years old.
You come to Florida to retire.
>> In July of 2016, a federal
judge denied a request by the
city to dismiss the case,
meaning that law stays in effect
for now.
♪♪
Finally, what may seem an
obvious solution to some of the
problems of poverty -- helping
workers earn more money.
Perhaps overshadowed by the
contentious 2016 presidential
election, voters in Arizona,
Colorado, Maine, and Washington
all approved measures to raise
their state's minimum wage from
about $8 an hour to at least
$12 by 2020.
But even in those states, and
for some 4 million Americans who
rely on tips, those mostly
working in the food industry,
wages remain a serious issue.
With minimum-wage hikes on the
horizon, some restaurants are
pioneering no-tipping policies,
eliminating gratuities in
favor of higher hourly wages for
workers.
Last year, I traveled to
Minnesota and Wisconsin to see
how bartenders, servers, and
restaurant owners are dealing
with two different systems.
>> Hello, gentlemen.
How are you today?
>> Good. How are you?
>> Lesa Melby has been a
waitress at
Grandma's Restaurant Company in
Duluth, Minnesota, for 34 years.
>> Sounds good. All right.
>> How many tables can you
handle comfortably?
>> Kind of a lot. [ Laughs ]
>> A lot? How many?
>> I can comfortably do probably
nine.
>> Wow. That's impressive.
>> [ Laughs ]
>> Melby relies on tips as a
core part of her income, but she
also gets paid Minnesota's state
minimum wage of $9 an hour.
If you have a day when you get
completely stiffed on tips...
>> Mm-hmm.
>> ...you will still take home
your minimum wage.
>> Right. Right.
>> The federal minimum wage is
$7.25 an hour.
But in 43 states, employers are
allowed to pay tipped workers
less -- some as little as $2.13
an hour, a federal wage which
has not increased in 25 years.
The rationale is that customers'
tips are supposed to make up the
difference between $2.13 an hour
and the minimum wage.
And if the tipped employee
doesn't receive the minimum wage
through tips, employers are
required to pay the difference.
In the industry, it's called
"topping up."
In seven states, including
Minnesota, topping up is not
an issue because those states
require employers to pay tipped
workers the full minimum wage.
Tips are considered additional
income.
>> Right next door to Minnesota,
here in Wisconsin, there's a
different economic reality.
The state minimum wage for
tipped workers in Wisconsin is
$2.33 an hour.
>> Shannon Sorenson lives in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, about an
hour's drive from the Minnesota
border.
She's been working as a waitress
for about six years, and her
current employer pays her a
little more -- $3 an hour before
tips.
She recently switched to working
part time.
>> There are some days the tips
are amazing, and there's days
that, you know, I'm making
probably compared to someone
with a four-year degree.
But then there's other days that
I'm making nothing.
It's so tough.
"I got the car payment.
I got the bill payment.
Oh, I got the car insurance
payment, too.
Oh, wait, I also need to eat,
too."
>> Do you think you could
survive being a server in
Wisconsin full-time?
>> It would be a very stressful
life -- very stressful, living
paycheck to paycheck, never
really knowing what I'm gonna
make.
I don't want that.
>> Now Sorenson wants to finish
her college degree and pursue a
career in interior design.
She likes being a waitress and
her bosses, but she rarely makes
enough to support herself.
>> People just don't understand
how much work goes into being a
waitress, and just the days I
don't get a lot of money,
it's just -- It is so hard.
And everything becomes more
expensive, so it's harder and
harder, but...
>> David Cooper has been
studying tipped labor for the
Economic Policy Institute, a
nonpartisan, Washington
think tank.
Cooper says almost 15% of tipped
servers earn less than the
federal poverty line.
But in states that pay higher
base wages, tipped workers, like
Lesa Melby in Minnesota, are
faring better.
>> What we see in those states
is that the poverty rate among
tipped workers is dramatically
lower than in the states where
they're getting the $2.13 per
hour as their base wage.
So, what that tells us is
that, you know, even though, in
theory, these folks in the other
states are supposed to be
getting at least the normal
minimum wage, something isn't
adding up.
>> Even though employers are
supposed to top up and make
sure tipped workers earn the
full minimum wage, Cooper says
they don't always do so.
>> You have to do this
additional calculation of
adding up their tips and
counting their hours and making
sure that the base wage plus
tips equals the full minimum
wage, and it's complicated.
And it's also complicated for
employers, too, because the law
isn't entirely clear about how
to do this calculation.
>> The Federal Labor Department
has looked into this question.
In the past three years,
tip-credit violations were found
in over 1,500 investigations
resulting in nearly
$15.5 million in back wages
being identified.
Employers are supposed to match
up to the minimum wage if you
don't make it.
>> I did not know that.
>> What if someone said to you,
"Wow, we're going to be just
like your neighbors over there
in Minnesota and you're gonna
get minimum wage as your base
salary, plus your tips"?
>> I would love that.
I actually know some people who
used to work in Minnesota as a
server, and then they came over
here, and they realized that
they're only making $2.33.
And they're like, "I'm literally
losing thousands of dollars by
coming over here in Wisconsin."
>> I need a little more
dressing.
>> At the Butter Bakery Cafe in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, waiter
Andrew Dunn says being paid the
state's required
$9-an-hour minimum wage before
tips is a crucial safety net.
>> The amount I'm working is the
maximum that I can work right
now, and I pay all my bills but
not a lot more.
So it would be very hard to have
my base wage slip below the
minimum wage.
We have those slow mornings,
where hardly anybody comes in
and your tips are really low.
>> In terms of the percentage
you take home, on your best day,
what percentage is base wage
and what percentage is tip?
>> On the best day, I would say
that my base wage is about half
and my tips are about half, and
on the worst day, my base wage
is about three quarters of what
I take home and my tips are
about a quarter.
>> Butter Bakery Cafe is not a
full-service restaurant, so
there's less opportunity for
tipping servers.
Owner Dan Swenson-Klatt says
paying his workers a living wage
has always been a priority.
>> Currently, I have to pay a
little more, because they don't
see the same level of tips.
If I knew they were getting a
lot more tips, I might look at
dropping my base wage a bit
more.
'Cause, ideally, it's about
what they make totally,
the total compensation.
>> At
Grandma's Restaurant Company in
Duluth, where servers can make a
higher amount of tips,
Lesa Melby is afraid that her
customers will tip her less if
they learn of her minimum wage
increases.
>> I make more money off of my
tips than I do my paycheck,
and if people are going to think
that I'm getting a higher
minimum wage, they're gonna
start tipping less or not at
all.
>> And Grandma's Regional
Manager Tony Boen says that the
requirement to pay servers
minimum wage has had unintended
consequences at their six
restaurants.
For one, it has increased the
wage disparity between the
serving and kitchen staff.
>> The mandated minimum-wage
increase was giving an increase
to our most highly compensated
employees, at the peril of our
cooks and the guys in the back
of the house, who didn't make
tips.
So we needed to find a way --
And we still need to find a way
to bridge that wage disparity.
So that's a huge challenge for
us and how can we do that?
>> They've raised prices to
cover the higher labor costs for
their 400 to 600 employees.
The number fluctuates depending
on the season.
But Boen says that's not enough
to keep up with ongoing
mandatory minimum-wage jumps.
The next one will be in August
from $9 to $9.50 an hour.
>> Have you ever had a customer
say, "Hey, why are your prices
going up?"
>> No. They don't say that.
>> What do they say?
>> They just don't come.
We've cut jobs.
We've cut hours.
We closed three restaurants.
They became unprofitable due
to minimum wage, plus some other
factors, but that was a huge
factor.
>> On the other hand, employment
in the hospitality industry in
states that pay full minimum
wage to tipped workers actually
saw stronger growth from 1995 to
2014 than in states that pay
less.
When we talk about raising the
minimum wage, what can we do to
help the restaurant owner?
>> I think as long as you phase
in those increases over time, it
gives businesses time to adjust.
When you raise the minimum wage,
all of the competitors are also
facing that additional labor
cost.
So, presumably, they should be
able to pass that additional
cost on through higher prices,
and no one's going to be at a
competitive disadvantage.
You now, I think that the
tipping system creates some
unique challenges in there,
because at a higher-end
restaurant, they know that the
clientele probably has a little
more money to spend, they can
absorb those price increases a
little more easily.
At a, you know, more
family-dining restaurant, it
might be a little harder to
absorb those increases.
>> Some restaurants are
addressing the wage issue by
paying servers like other
employees -- waitstaff receive
a higher hourly rate than the
minimum wage, but the restaurant
has a no-tipping policy.
>> Rib eye, nine.
>> That's how chef and
restaurant owner
Erick Harcey runs his two
Minneapolis restaurants.
Customers at his Victory 44 and
Upton 43 are told they should
not leave a tip.
>> A lot of it was just sort of
trying to get in front of some
of the change, the policy.
The minimum wage is going up.
>> Servers at his restaurants
are paid a starting base salary
of $17 an hour.
To cover the cost, he raised his
prices 18% -- about the
equivalent of a tip at his
restaurant.
The no-tipping policy also helps
him pay the kitchen staff higher
wages.
>> For the servers, it may have
averaged out slightly -- some
are making more, some maybe
slightly less, but it's
guaranteed.
But for the cooks, the
dishwashers, the hosts --
They're making substantially
more than they have in the past.
>> We are gratuity-free, so the
number here is your total
for the evening.
>> How are you gonna know when
this has been a success?
>> I feel it's a success
already.
>> Really? Why?
>> The success I'm gauging is
the feedback from the guests.
They're just -- They love
the experience, and when they
leave and say, "You know what?
This was phenomenal service," it
had no relevance -- They're not,
"Oh, it was better 'cause there
was no tips."
They're just stating, "This was
great service."
And then, at the end of the
night, I -- You know, I count my
cash in the register.
That's the success.
♪♪
>> That's our program for
tonight.
With a new Congress and a new
administration in Washington,
poverty, jobs, and opportunity
are likely to continue to be
important issues in the weeks
and months ahead, and we hope
you will continue to follow our
"Chasing the Dream" reporting on
"NewsHour Weekend" and on
PBS member stations and online
at pbs.org/chasingthedream.
I'm Alison Stewart.
Thanks for joining us.
♪♪
>> "Chasing the Dream:
Poverty and Opportunity
in America" -- a
"PBS NewsHour Weekend" special
is made possible by...
"PBS NewsHour Weekend" is made
possible by...
...the John and Helen Glessner
Family Trust -- supporting
trustworthy journalism that
informs and inspires.
Corporate funding is provided by
Mutual of America -- designing
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group retirement products.
That's why we're your retirement
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Additional support has been
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contributions to your PBS
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>> Be more. PBS.
