KCBS Cover Story: Richmond Foreclosure Crisis Impacting Children
RICHMOND (KCBS) - The foreclosure crisis in the Richmond area has forced some families into homelessness. Small children, in particular, are feeling the strain and stress of living in unfamiliar surroundings.
"We're getting a lot of renters that are totally ignorant to the fact of their landlord is in trouble, their getting the knock on the door saying hey you've got x number of days to bet out of here, this house is foreclosed and they're like, 'oh my God what do I do?'" recounted Kia Croom with the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP).
Croom said she has seen more clients walk through GRIP's doors because of what is considered something of a foreclosure epidemic in the region.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Because of the number of families in the area, it also means countless small children become homeless. Croom counts about 175 homeless children in GRIP's emergency shelter program each year. About 85 of them are children age 5 and under - a 10% increase over last year.
"Children will either tend to isolate or they will tend to become aggressive when they can't have their way," GRIP childcare teacher Karen Shoji detailed the obvious signs of stress these children experience.
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