Riches to Rags - It Could Happen to You

Downwardly Mobile is a “riches to rags,” data-supported, sociopolitical memoir about a well-resourced White suburban Chicago family who free falls into poverty after concurrent job losses, multiple insurance-denied medical claims, and the Market Crash of 2008-09 rob them of their life savings and leave them teetering on the jagged edge of homelessness. As the years roll by and suitable employment is not forthcoming, and after skyrocketing taxes deplete what little is left of their savings, the husband, in desperation, activates a $100,000 home equity line of credit without his wife’s knowledge; a loan they can’t repay. That betrayal would be the fuse that almost detonates the marriage.

In all the chaos, the nucleus of their lives shatters but their bond never breaks. Throughout their trial, the family realizes what is most important: that faith, family, friends, and above all, love prevail. That collectively these assets are more valuable than those held by the Federal Reserve. All it takes is one market crash, two job losses, and three major illnesses, and the struggles become virtually insurmountable, despite having done everything right in life.

Downwardly Mobile is timely, pertinent, and necessary. I believe this story will resonate with every father who has lost a job, with every mother who has temporarily stopped out of corporate employment to care for young children, and with every American who has viscerally believed in the American Dream and has found the patina of that promise tarnished.

J.E. Vermeulen is a solitary traveler and career chameleon, completing her degrees in multiple states and devoting her early career to urban renewal, a thread which she weaves throughout her timely and important book. Vermeulen is also a Pilates instructor, figure skating coach, artist, wife, mother and cat lover. She splits her time between Naples, Fl and Cashiers, NC.