Home is a Room

The Hernandez family moved into an El Monte motel after a job loss. “I pray ever day we get out of here,” says Lili. Families are moving into the area’s motels as housing becomes scarce and unaffordable for the working poor. “Everybody knows I lost my house," Lili says. "I had surgery. I live in a motel. My family doesn’t care.” Eventually the family of six found a hundred square foot guest house in Ontario where they hoped to have a new start. “It’s peaceful here…nobody bothers me and I don’t have to wake up to fights and cops knocking on doors,” says Lili.