Mr. and Mrs. Pagan are a typical family who were living the American dream. They had a thriving business on State Street in New Haven. The business was there main source of income allowing Mrs. Pagan to be a stay at home mom and care for their children on a full time bases. During the last year the poor economy has had a tremendous impact on the local community, forcing many to become unemployed. Mr. Pagan was one of these people, his business started to lose money, and in the end he had no other choice but too close. He could no longer pay the rent on the business. Mr. Pagan, a carpenter by trade, has been looking for work for the last six months. The family fell behind on their mortgage and sold their home because they decided it would be more cost effective to rent then to own. Due to lack of employment, despite the many efforts on Mr. Pagan behalf, they fell behind on the rent as well.   Mr. and Mrs. Pagan came to Catholic Charities / Centro San Jose requesting assistance with there rent. They were at the point of being evicted. Through the Neighbor to Neighbor Housing Program Catholic Charities/Centro San Jose was able to assist Mr. & Mrs. Pagan with paying off the back rent. This allowed Mr. Pagan to breathe a sigh of relief and redirect his focus on looking for work. Mr. Pagan has recently found temporary work out of state. Although being away from his family is not ideal, Mr. Pagan is happy to know that he will be able to provide for them until something more permanent can come along.