Abraham and Brenda cannot afford a house. With their savings they bought a trailer. Like other couples and families, they live in a long row of trailers in Palo Alto, parked in front of the Stanford campus. There are times when the university demands that the trailers clear out, like on the day of a big football game.
Mary Beth Meehan
Mary came to the United States from Uganda. She lives with her middle daughter’s family in San Jose. “I’ve discovered one thing,” Mary says. “There are people here who are poorer than we are in Africa, because you cannot find a homeless person in my village."
Mary Beth Meehan
A new construction on Highway 101, which connects California with the state of Washington.
Mary Beth Meehan
Despite jobs in large technology companies, many employees struggle to make ends meet and become homeless. One of them is Elisabeth. “It's possible to have a mid-level salary and still be living paycheck-to-paycheck in Silicon Valley,” she says.
Mary Beth Meehan
Silicon Valley is known as a tech innovation hub. Three of the five biggest tech companies in the world – Alphabet, Apple and Meta – are headquartered there. Warren doesn’t strive to make his small company one of Silicon Valley’s giants. “Many of those companies are huge because they are willing to cross some lines,” he says—ethical, moral lines.
Mary Beth Meehan
The job as a security guard at Meta, the company who owns Facebook and Instagram, involves guiding cars onto campus and keeping pedestrians looking down at their phones safe. Despite the long hours, Cristobal has no health insurance and cannot afford to have a home in Silicon Valley.
Mary Beth Meehan
Many researchers come to the United States with big dreams of making a difference, like Justyna, an engineer from Poland who co-developed an autonomous emergency response system for earthquakes and floods. Social projects tend to fail due to a lack of funding.
Mary Beth Meehan
For many people, working in Silicon Valley means having to choose between spending around $3,000 to rent a one-bedroom apartment or spending hours in traffic every day to commute downtown. This is the case for Ravi and Gouthami, an Indian couple with multiple degrees who work in the pharmaceutical and technology industry.
Mary Beth Meehan
Former landfill near Facebook headquarters, Menlo Park
Mary Beth Meehan
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