Like Catherine Taylor, low-income residents all around the county are suffering, said Michael Ferrer, who coordinates employment and economic programs for the Lorain County Urban League.

“We’ve got a lot of problems right now, with lots of people looking for a way out,” he said.

He said the situation is especially bad in Lorain, quoting a huge poverty rate jump there in recent memory.

Ferrer said that from 2005 to 2006 — which are the last poverty statistics he has — the number of Lorain residents living in poverty rose from 17.6 percent to 26 percent.

In the same time, U.S. Census reports show Lorain County’s poverty rate went from 11.7 percent to 14 percent.

But those are just numbers. Ferrer said it’s even more heartbreaking when he puts names to the faces that the numbers represent.

“I see these people all the time,” he said. “To me, it’s devastating. These are good people trying to do better for themselves.”

Many low-income residents don’t have much to eat, they often can’t afford to leave the house and they’re certainly not hitting the shopping malls, movie theaters or community festivals, he said.

Just like Taylor, a lot of them are losing their homes. Ferrer said he talks with teens every week who are worried their parents could face foreclosure any day.

There are also many who have good housing through welfare, but are still desperately trying to get off welfare even though they know it means moving to inferior housing, he said.

“We’re in tears many times at what they are going through,” he said. “And with funding cuts, we’re losing ground. We’re not able to keep up, but the problem is growing and families are still being hurt."

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