Go directly to the poorhouse
The squat, mustard-colored building known as Bannon Street sits on a bend in the road, framed by railroad tracks, warehouses and an industrial park. Inside, the mood is as grim as the dull yellow walls. Rows of double bunk beds line the dormitories. "This reminds me of Dickens," grumbles Resident David Erickson, 33, an unemployed carpet layer. Indeed, Sacramento County in northern California has borrowed a page from the English novelist and revived a 19th century solution to economic hard times: the poorhouse.
In October the county cut off all cash grants and food stamps to...
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