Celeste had just finished her shift at the factory when she received a frantic call from a neighbor. It took her a moment to register what he was telling her: “Your house is on fire! You better get here right away!” Panicking, she sped through rush-hour traffic to arrive at a devastating scene: fire trucks blocked the entry to the cul-de-sac where she lived. Beyond the trucks she could see the smoking ruin of her home. A moment later, a school bus pulled up, and Jalen, her thirteen-year-old, hopped off. Mercifully, the bus had been running behind schedule.

Celeste and her three children lost almost everything in the fire – everything except her car, a phone, and a few hampers of dirty clothes. However, nothing could have prepared Celeste for the housing crisis she had fallen into.

Brian Goldstone’s There Is No Place for Us and Jeff Hobbs’s Seeking Shelter take us into the lives of families who work hard but can’t afford housing.