Posted on: Friday, December 6, 2002
Family of eight needs table for dining room
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
"Y.R." is attending classes to earn his general equivalency diploma while his wife, "G.R.," is working toward becoming a certified nurse's assistant. Two of their six children, ages 14-22, are working.
The tight-knit family has been through a lot in the last six months.
It started when they were no longer able to afford the rent for a two-bedroom apartment. With no place else to go, the family sought shelter at the Institute for Human Services. They have since found temporary housing.
The three-month experience at IHS made the family more disciplined and determined to achieve a better life, said G.R.
"It's very hard to live in one big room with a lot of people," she said. "You have no privacy. What we learned at IHS, which we never had in our lives, was that time rules everything. You have to wake up by a certain time, eat at a certain time, "For us, it was a good experience to have that kind of rules," added G.R.
With the adults working full-time and the children attending school, spending time together has become a challenge for the family.
Meals could be better if they had a dining table for eight, said G.R. "Right now, we sit on the floor," she added. "I think it would make things a lot better if we could sit down for meals at a table. It will also give the kids a place to study instead of lying on the floor."
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