Six months later the marriage broke up. She isn't sure where Tyrone is now. With no job and no child support, she moved from shelter to shelter, at one point living in a field workers' camp. She lost everything she had, including the children's birth certificates and other documents, in a fire last year at the Commercial Street Inn, a San Jose shelter for women and children. Neal has found another kind of support at First Presbyterian Church in San Jose, where she and her children attend services.
Church members provide encouragement and occasional rides.
The church treated her to a shopping spree and a visit to the beauty salon in preparation for her job search. She'd dropped out of business classes, and lost free child care. There is a God out there, let me tell you,'' she says now. McFarland was hired as a receptionist at an electronics firm in June. In July, she was promoted to office manager's assistant.