Economic Crisis Hits Florida Families and Elderly

New American Media
El Sentinel
April 9, 2008

DAVIE, Fla. — Rising gas, food prices, stagnant tourism, construction industries, and the weak dollar have created an economic crisis in Broward County in southeast Florida, reports Spanish language El Sentinel newspaper. More than 55,000 people have left the county in the past two years, according to the Census. Only Detroit and Cleveland, have been hit harder. Zulma Ortiz, 50, plans to sell her mobile home and move to Daytona Beach. Her husband Alfredo Castellón, 62, was immobilized by a stroke, and with a 9 year-old daughter, Ortiz’s $300 weekly paycheck doesn’t nearly pay for the family’s needs. Though already retired, Nelson Corrales, 72, has joined the growing ranks of the elderly who work because he needs the money. He took a job in a supermarket.