Woman and Son Struggle

ANAHEIM – Julie Anderson has spent the last 5½ years making life work with a hot plate and an electric skillet. Her kitchen is not a kitchen at all but an Anaheim motel room that she shares with her 40-year-old son. Anderson turns out cupcakes and life's other essentials all the same.

They have a roof over their heads but that's where the luxury begins and ends. Her son works full-time, helping other people find jobs. But there is just never enough money to go around.

So here they live, in the very same motel room they moved into when George W. Bush was president and the Chicago White Sox were the reigning World Series champs.

"It's embarrassing to not be able to afford a real home," said Anderson, who spent years working for Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton and has held other odd jobs. "You don't feel like you're a real human being."

Their stomachs are filled by Project Dignity and Community SeniorServ, which provide three meals a day, five days a week. Click here to read full story on OC Register website.