Word: phenoms
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...notion was a beguiling one--professional photographs of their adorable Debraysha--but Phenom and De-Shawto Cochran felt the need to magnify the saleswoman's small print. "How much will it cost me?" Phenom interjected hopefully. "Eight dollars, just $8," said the rep, a tad more slowly. "Oh, I don't have $8 right now," Phenom replied flatly. The woman finally retreated as the Cochrans pushed their cart toward the produce aisle...
...Phenom, 26, was not giving the rep the brush-off. She did not have $8. She had $6--a neatly folded $5 bill and a one--tucked inside her jeans pocket. That was the Cochran family's nest...
...Cochrans are the working poor on a losing streak. Until October, De-Shawto had a job at the Wal-Mart deli counter; Phenom drove a pizza-delivery van until her pregnancy made her too sick to continue. Now a few days a week, De-Shawto gets up before dawn at their temporary home at the Barbara Bonner Family Shelter and heads off to work prepping cars to be sold at a local auto-auction facility. He's lucky to take home...
...Phenom and De-Shawto are young parents with a long history. The Columbus natives have known each other since middle school, they went on their first movie date together (a comedy about upward mobility called Livin' Large) at 15, and both dropped out of school in the 11th grade, a move they regret deeply. They say they still plan to get their GEDs, or high school--equivalence certificates. And they share a similar dream for their children. "I want to see them go to their proms and graduate," says Phenom. "I want them to succeed at things we didn...
...parents feel the stigma more poignantly. "The place is comfortable," says Phenom. "But I really wish I didn't have to be here." At times the Cochrans betray a subtle self-consciousness about their homelessness. "There's a regular family living right next door," says De-Shawto, excitedly explaining the unobtrusive nature of the shelter. "Hey, we're a regular family," Phenom cuts in. "What I mean is, the family next door isn't in the program," explains De-Shawto, a bit awkwardly...