For many single mothers living paycheck to paycheck, the pandemic left them with a few stark choices : face homelessness or purchase an off-grid vehicle. With unemployment rates continuing to rise, particularly for single mothers like Paula, who has a child with special needs, the option of online schooling became increasingly unfeasible.
“Public lands are soon to look a whole lot different. After the extensive fires we had this summer and fall in the Pacific Northwest and California many of my single mom friends are doing exactly what I did, buying buses and trailers from junkyards and doing their best to fix them up. When you have the choice between homelessness and living in a bus you choose the latter,” said Paula
Paula, who lost her home to a fire in 2015, has struggled with housing insecurity ever since. According to a PEW analysis, 17% of women have lost their jobs since the pandemic began, compared to 13% of men. I pitched and produced this piece centered on Paula and her son, who have navigated these challenges with the help of their repurposed 'Jesus Saves' bus from a junkyard.
I pitched, produced, and photographed this piece for TIME. It was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Read about it HERE
Max enjoys one of his nightly desert hikes above craggy wash campground where the family has been parked for a few weeks with a few hundred other vans, buses, and trailer living folks outside Lake Havasu City, Arizona on February 25, 2021. Whenever Max goes out on a hike by himself he makes sure he's prepared and brings water, snacks, and even a knife.
Paula works on finding a job on her laptop, frustrated with trying to download Microsoft Word while Max works on trying to make an origami card for a family member who has just passed away on February 9, 2021 near Quartzsite, Arizona.
Paula prepares breakfast while Button, the family dog, begs for some scraps inside the school bus on February 20, 2021 outside Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Max and Paula hang their laundry out to dry in the desert heat on the school bus on February 9, 2021 outside Quartzsite, Arizona.
Max helps Trish move in a piece of wood they cut to mount around Ari's bed to make a "hobbit bed" for him inside the school bus on February 8, 2021 outside Ehrenberg, Arizona.
Max enjoys some personal reading on his favorite blanket near Quartzsite, Arizona on February 9, 2021.
Paula and Max’s 'Jesus Saves' bus provides ample warmth on cold desert nights outside Lake Havasu City, Arizona on February 23, 2021.
Paula takes a shower in her handmade bathroom, which includes a compost toilet and a bathtub made from a metal trough all of which is inside the school bus. The bruising on Paula's back is from 'cupping' which she lets Max do on her back when she is stressed.
Max sits in the doorway of the school bus with his dog named Button while his mom fills up the water tank of the school bus in Quartzsite, Arizona on February 8, 2021.
Paula and Max embrace on the family bed in the school bus on March 3,2021
Max takes a quick sink shower to wash his hair before the family heads out to do some errands in town on February 26, 2021 near Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Max snuggles up inside his bed at the back of the school bus while Trish makes him breakfast on February 20, 2021 outside Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Paula works on finding a part for a heater in the bus at the local hardware store in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on March 3, 2021.
Max works on some chemistry schoolwork on the floor of the school bus while Paula helps out a neighbor with moving her table saw to work on his own bus on February 23, 2021 outside Lake Havasu, Arizona.
Paula works on cleaning up the forever dirty bus floor, which is hard to keep clean when living in the desert with a dog, cat, and 12 year old on March 2, 2021 at the Craggy Wash campground, near Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
