Motel America

Nadia Shira Cohen and Paulo Siqueira — along with their infant son, Rafa — settled into the Remington Inn motel for several weeks last year to produce “Motel America,” a multimedia project that tracked several families who ended up homeless after illness, unemployment, foreclosure and eviction. In a city where Disney’s commercial fantasy attracts thousands of families each year, they are stuck with no idea of what the future holds.

The LENS blog today takes a look at families who have fallen into poverty and forced to live in motels. For some of the families, all it took was one disaster like being rear-ended by a bus to put them in their situation. Some families can only afford a few days at the motel, so they end up camping in the woods. You can see the multimedia project here.

Photo: Paulo Siqueira & Nadia Shira Cohen

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