Scattered along gravel and dirt backroads, which divide surrounding farmland, the local people include elderly, single parents, and grandparents mostly raising their grandchildren. Often, three generations live in one dilapidated two-bedroom trailer. Little to no work is available to support these families, many descendants of sharecroppers. The homes consist of run-down trailers, cinder block houses, and wooden shacks.
Some residents are squatters living in burned-out houses.
One family, for example, lives in the garage of an abandoned burned-out house, while others pay high rent for shacks with little to no utilities. Almost all Hopkins Park residents are on welfare.