Band of brothers: Homeless in Charlotte

Jobless, homeless, all this small band has is each other

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – With no work, no home and few prospects, all Roy Hawkins, Mark Corbett and Drew Everhart have is each other.

“We’re pretty much what you’d call a brotherhood,” said Corbett, 48, sitting in the makeshift camp he set up in the woods about an hour’s walk from the center of Charlotte in January 2008 and which has been his home ever since. “We look out for each other and we share what we have.”

Hawkins, 44, has been with him on and off since then, since he received his prosthetic leg three months ago. He lost the lower half of his leg in an accident in April.

“When you lose your leg, you lose your livelihood,” Hawkins, an electrician, said.

Everhart moved into the camp about three months ago. He ended up in Charlotte around a year ago after an accident on a construction job. Corbett is also a construction worker, with few possibilities for full-time work because the U.S. housing crisis and the recession it spawned have wiped out many construction jobs.

“There’s nothing out there for us right now,” Corbett said. “But things will get better soon.”...>>>>>