During the week of December 3, 2012, WUOT Producers Matt Shafer Powell and Leslie Snow introduced us to a group of people often underrepresented in discussions about entitlements and employment. Without A Net: Voices of the Working Poor highlighted the lives of six East Tennesseans for whom hope is often an unaffordable luxury.
120412WithoutANetHollyandKay01.mp3
Holly and Kay are good friends and roommates locked in a constant struggle to keep a handle on their expenses.
120712WithoutANetRusty01.mp3
Rusty is unable to drive because of a visual disability and relies on buses to get her back and forth to her job at Walgreen's.
120612WithoutANetDhafer01.mp3
Dhafer's family left Iraq when someone planted a bomb in their garden. Today, he's working part-time at a home improvement store while he looks for work as a civil engineer.
120512WithoutANetRobin01.mp3
Robin delivers newspapers overnight and spends her days taking care of her growing family.