Living Outside the System
Tammy and Troy Renault Look like any middle class couple, but someone else is living what used to be their home.
Almost everything they own is in storage, reports CBS News correspondent Seth Doane.
Now, home for the Renaults and their four kids is a campsite - a tent and a borrowed trailer.
Troy said that how they ended up there is Economics 101. When he lost his job with a construction company and had trouble finding work on his own, the bills piled up, and everything else came crashing down.
"You go from 'do you pay your lights and water' or 'do you pay the house payment and sit in the dark'", Troy explained.
"You had a house. How strange does this feel?" Doane asked.
"The first week, when we first moved out, I conditioned my mind that I'm on vacation," Tammy said.
That was four months ago.
It costs about $85 a week to rent a space here. It includes electricity, water and sewage, but some cannot afford even that. So far, the management has been flexible, telling us they believe that they'll get what they're owed once people get back on their feet.
There's a sense of community here - a community bound by loss that's growing by the day. There are 116 campsites and 85 percent of those filled are not folks here on holiday. For them, this has become a permanent home.
Cindy Nunley lost her home when her husband lost his job.
"People don't understand, unless they been in this situation, you know, people don't really understand," Nunley said.
"There's days that make you feel very guilty," Troy said. "Because you want your kids to have better than what you had growing up."
But like so many here, the Renaults haven't lost their faith.
"We trust in the Lord, he's got a plan for our lives," Troy said.
For now, their plan is to stick together and hope things get better before the weather gets worse.
