Photos: Residents of Rowan County, North Carolina
Russell Varner, 56, sits on the porch at a privately owned home for veterans on Park Avenue on Mon., Oct. 31, 2011, in Salisbury, N.C.JOHN W. ADKISSON
Kevin Parham, 47, centre, talks with friends while eating dinner at Rowan Helping Ministries, a homeless shelter in Salisbury, N.C., on Mon., Oct. 31, 2011. "This is just a sidestep," Mr. Parham said. "Nothing lasts forever." After losing his job as a trucker in 2007 due to health problems, Mr. Parham has been laid off three times and moved to the shelter in June 2010. He will attend a local community college to become a machinist starting in January 2012.JOHN W. ADKISSON
Darlene Williams, 53, top, holds hands with VickyMadison, bottom, outside of Rowan Helping Ministries, a homeless shelter in Salisbury, N.C., on Mon., Oct. 31, 2011. "We're all family here," Madison said. "We hold each other up."JOHN W. ADKISSON
Darlene Williams, 53, centre, talks to people waiting in line for lunch at Rowan Helping Ministries, a homeless shelter in Salisbury, N.C., on Mon., Oct. 31, 2011. Ms. Williams worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse before losing her job and eventually moving to the shelter. She will soon be starting a new nursing job at a nursing home making $19 per hour.JOHN W. ADKISSON
People's belongings sit in Rowan Helping Ministries, a homeless shelter in Salisbury, N.C., on Mon., Oct. 31, 2011. "We served 19 families last year, when anytime before that two would've been a lot.," said Kyna Foster, who serves as executive director at the shelter.JOHN W. ADKISSON