Homeless students

Michael Overall (Tulsa World): Her father had a phone message waiting for him when they got home.

Tapanga Wenrich never heard the message itself, but she remembers Daddy telling Momma not to worry; he would find another job.

He had been out of work before, once for several weeks after falling off a ladder and hurting his back. He always found another job.

"My daddy's good at building stuff or taking stuff apart," she explains, using an imaginary screwdriver to work on some imaginary project. "He can build anything, especially houses."

If Tapanga were poor, she didn't know it a year ago, when her father lost his construction job. Store-bought clothes filled her closet, dolls and toys littered the bedroom floor. Hot water came out of the bathroom faucets, and the lights always came on when she flipped a switch.

- eddie