By Erica Clampitt

For The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON — Drive through some Anderson neighborhoods, and you’ll see houses with boarded-up windows and “Do not enter” signs.

That’s where the reeling economy and an unstable job market have hit many Anderson residents — in the very places where they live.

According to Abby Ramsey, court administrator for the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, 98 foreclosures in April and 131 in May will bring the 2009 total to 504.

Last year, 1,205 homes went through foreclosure in Madison County — about 100 a month.

“There is a growing number of families facing homelessness,” said Beth McKenzie, housing rehabilitation administrator for the City of Anderson. “People who were once considered middle class are now in poverty.”

This trend has created a large group of working poor — those who are holding down a low-paying job or two but still can’t seem to make ends meet.

“People come into our office and they can’t pay their rent or utilities,” said Donna Davis, who works in the Anderson Township trustee’s office and serves on the City Council. Her council district, the second, is the poorest in the city of Anderson.

Davis’ work gives her the opportunity to meet many different people who are struggling. Not all of them are unemployed.

“Poverty is now the working poor not getting hours at work and only earning minimum wage,” said Davis. “It’s someone who made a living but got behind and can’t pay the bills.”

As the poor of the community face home foreclosures and job losses, they seek alternative living solutions. Some have resorted to living with family and friends.

“A lot of families have doubled up and let relatives move in,” Davis said. “There are a lot of adult children who are back in their parents’ house with their children.”

Some have worse situations, according to Davis.