{"id":56,"date":"2015-01-08T19:45:35","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T19:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/?p=56"},"modified":"2016-04-22T13:46:21","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T13:46:21","slug":"for-a-single-mom-a-layoff-leads-to-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/2015\/01\/08\/for-a-single-mom-a-layoff-leads-to-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"A Layoff Leads To Uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Unemployment is one of the most forbidding words in the English language. If you don\u2019t have money socked away for emergencies, losing a job can wreck your finances.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Natalie Berquist, a Lewisville mother of two, lost her job in late 2012. Even though she found another job in less than a month, she faced homelessness. She&#8217;s still digging out of a financial hole.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Berquist, 42, has two children; a daughter in her early 20s, and Samuel, a happy, tow-headed 4-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I would have had him first, I probably wouldn\u2019t have had any other kids!\u201d Natalie jokes. \u201cHe gives me a run for my money every day. If you can jump off of it, climb it, break it, tear it up, that\u2019s Samuel. But I wouldn\u2019t trade him for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Natalie\u2019s daughter, Nicole, has her own family now; they live in San Antonio. So it\u2019s just Natalie and Samuel sharing an apartment. It\u2019s in a gated complex that\u2019s new and clean. But their unit is pretty much empty.<\/p>\n<div class=\"audiobtn\">\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-56-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite11.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite11.mp3\">http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite11.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"audiotext\">&#8220;Even though I do have just a bed in the living room and a bed in the bedroom, to me, that is enough for us right now,\u201d Natalie says. &#8220;We have a place to sleep, we have a safe place to live.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- meta slider -->\n<div style=\"max-width: 700px;\" class=\"metaslider metaslider-flex metaslider-116 ml-slider\">\n    \n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_116\">\n        <div id=\"metaslider_116\">\n            <ul class=\"slides\">\n                <li style=\"display: block; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-118 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuelandtoys-700x400.jpg\" height=\"400\" width=\"700\" alt=\"\" class=\"slider-116 slide-118\" \/><div class=\"caption-wrap\"><div class=\"caption\">When Natalie Berquist lost her job, she lost her apartment. She has since found a new job -- and a new place to live for her and her 4-year-old son, Samuel. Photo\/Dane Walters<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-117 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuelandcat-700x400.jpg\" height=\"400\" width=\"700\" alt=\"\" class=\"slider-116 slide-117\" \/><div class=\"caption-wrap\"><div class=\"caption\">Samuel plays with his kitten, aptly named Little Black Cat. Photo\/Dane Walters<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n                <li style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-119 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuelandtv-700x400.jpg\" height=\"400\" width=\"700\" alt=\"Samuel and TV\" class=\"slider-116 slide-119\" \/><div class=\"caption-wrap\"><div class=\"caption\">There are two pieces of furniture in Natalie Berquist's entire place -- a little bed for Samuel and a futon that mom sleeps on. Photo\/Dane Walters<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n            <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        var metaslider_116 = function($) {\n            $('#metaslider_116').addClass('flexslider'); \/\/ theme\/plugin conflict avoidance\n            $('#metaslider_116').flexslider({ \n                slideshowSpeed:3000,\n                animation:\"fade\",\n                controlNav:true,\n                directionNav:true,\n                pauseOnHover:true,\n                direction:\"horizontal\",\n                reverse:false,\n                animationSpeed:600,\n                prevText:\"&lt;\",\n                nextText:\"&gt;\",\n                slideshow:true\n            });\n        };\n        var timer_metaslider_116 = function() {\n            var slider = !window.jQuery ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_116, 100) : !jQuery.isReady ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_116, 1) : metaslider_116(window.jQuery);\n        };\n        timer_metaslider_116();\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n<!--\/\/ meta slider-->\n<h4>Choosing savings instead of a sofa<\/h4>\n<p>She\u2019s not exaggerating. There are only two pieces of furniture in the entire place &#8212; a little bed for Samuel and a futon that mom sleeps on.<\/p>\n<p>No tables, no chairs, no sofa, no desk.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie says that\u2019s fine. She\u2019d rather put her money in the bank than sink it into a living room set.<\/p>\n<p>Saving money has always been difficult for Natalie, but her financial troubles boiled over in December 2012. She was working for a mortgage company when her division got bad news.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president of the company stands up and says &#8216;Oh, we\u2019re letting you guys go. You\u2019re going to get a 30-day written letter of notice and Dec. 31 is your termination date, and thank you for your employment here and don\u2019t ask for severance,&#8217;\u201d Natalie says.<\/p>\n<p>Her lease was up the same month. With no solid leads on a new job, Natalie had to let her apartment go.<\/p>\n<p>Homelessness loomed.<\/p>\n<p>She stayed in a hotel room. Then she got some help finding housing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_60\" style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-60 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Samuel\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-1360x765.jpg 1360w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/samuel.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 900px\" >&#8220;If you can jump off of it, climb it, break it, tear it up, that&#8217;s Samuel. But I wouldn&#8217;t trade him for anything,&#8221; says mother, Natalie Berquist. Photo\/Dane Walters<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>&#8216;I don&#8217;t have any security&#8217;<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/66.147.244.154\/~sharedho\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shared Housing<\/a> matches people who need a room or two with folks who have them to spare. Even though Natalie bounced back from her layoff quickly, landing another job within a month, she stayed in Shared Housing for eight months.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie loves her new position in customer service for a mortgage company called Nationstar. But even with steady employment, she has no wiggle room financially.<\/p>\n<div class=\"audiobtn\">\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-56-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite2.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite2.mp3\">http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/01\/berquist_soundbite2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"audiotext\">&#8220;Definitely, I don\u2019t have any security,\u201d she says. &#8220;The security that I have will be every year when I get my income tax, but that always seems to go somewhere to something. So, basically, I live paycheck to paycheck.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>Since her time in Shared Housing, Natalie says she\u2019s learned about managing money. She&#8217;d rather have a savings account than a sofa, she and Samuel are drinking water instead of soda, and she\u2019s doing all she can to be indispensable at work.<\/p>\n<p>While her apartment may be mostly open space, that just means more room for Samuel to play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unemployment is one of the most forbidding words in the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-one-crisis-living-on-the-financial-edge","post_format-post-format-audio","byline-courtney-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions\/418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/onecrisisaway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}