And what if “Out” meant living on the dangerous streets of Albuquerque, specifically the “War Zone,” a crime-ridden troubled area of Albuquerque.

That’s what happened to Angelo and Shelley Tafoya.

In a recent interview, Angelo, 48, and Shelley, 43, told me about their brush with city officials that threatened to leave them homeless, and what led to that nightmarish experience.

The Tafoya’s have lived on Wisconsin, a street in the “War Zone,” where you probably wouldn’t want to live, for almost a year. Prior to that they lived with Angelo’s parents.

Angelo is an independent freight handler. Assisted by his wife, the two have still had a hard time making ends meet. Angelo’s health and a difficult economy have resulted in money being very tight. So tight, in fact, that the couple’s utilities were turned off. They just had no money to pay the bill.

To get some electricity, the couple admit running an extension cord to their neighbor’s apartment. They knew it was illegal, but didn’t know what else to do. They felt there were no other options. However, they were able to enjoy a few more weeks of “Home, Sweet Home” - as the sign reads above their front door. While home was small, Shelley had made the apartment very cozy. It was also their own place, and the rent was something they felt they could afford.

However, they knew that things couldn’t continue on that way indefinitely. They just didn’t know what they could do to make them change. When you can’t afford to pay the electric bill, you can’t afford to pay the electric bill.

November 6 started out to be a normal day and the couple was resting when they heard a bang on the door. The Tafoya’s had some unexpected guests ; the Albuquerque Police Department and officials from the City of Albuquerque Nuisance Abatement Team.

The Tafoya’s said that officials had come to the apartment complex looking for drugs. “And they didn’t find any here,”Angelo said.

However, not having working electricity was a code violation and the Tafoya’s were given until 5 p.m. that day to vacate their apartment. The couple was told that they could be on the apartment complex site between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. if improvements were being worked on, but they may not enter their apartment.

Angelo said officials asked the couple if they had a place to go and he said that they didn’t, but no suggestions were offered about what they could do now. They were being forced out of their home-which admittedly didn’t have electricity and is located in an undesirable neighborhood – onto the even colder and more dangerous streets of Albuquerque.

Angelo said he believes city officials and law enforcement thought he and his wife would sleep in the car.

I asked Shelley how she felt when she learned they would have to move out. She said, “I was scared to death.”

The Tafoya’s feel they were a good couple trying to keep their head above water, who had been caught in the middle of an unfortunate predicament. They said they couldn’t be held responsible for anything that happened at the apartment complex outside the four walls of their home. Angelo had paid a heavy price a few months ago for trying to turn away an “undesirable” from loitering at the complex. He had been stabbed, exacerbating already existing health conditions. He pulled X-rays out to emphasize his point, just in case I had any doubts.

I asked Shelley how she felt about the city’s actions. She said they could at least have been provided some resources, and not just told that they had to be out of their home by 5 p.m.

“Nobody offered any of us a place to go,” she said.

I asked her if she had heard about Joy Junction Homeless Shelter and why they didn’t call. Shelley said they didn’t know much about it, but they had thought that Joy Junction was just for couples with children.

She added, “The city stereotypes all of us here as low life drug dealers and drug addicts. There are good people who live in the ‘War Zone.’ We moved here because this was what we could afford.”

Angelo and Shelley said they spent the next few days cleaning up around the complex, while racking their brains for resources that they could use to pay the utility company the required deposit to get their power turned back on.

They were finally able to scrape together $195 for the gas and electricity deposit, but that was just for the deposit. As of yet they haven’t seen a bill, and have no idea how much it will be or how they will pay it when it comes.

I asked the couple what part their faith had played in helping them get through this crisis. Shelley said, “Our faith has played a large part in helping us cope with this.”

Angelo said, reflectively, “I always believe everything happens for a reason and God doesn’t give us more than we can cope with.”

With the city on a mission to close down with minimum warning what they deem to be substandard motels, apartment and houses (www.assistnews.net/Stories/2..., www.assistnews.net/Stories/2..., www.assistnews.net/Stories/2...) I asked the Tafoya’s what advice they had for anyone who might suddenly find themselves homeless and on the street as a result of living in such housing.

Shelley said, “Be aware that this could happen to you, and have some advance planning.”

Knowing what they know now, I asked the Tafoya’s if they would still have chosen to move into their home in the “War Zone” if they could have foreseen all the problems they would encounter.

They said they would have made the same choice, citing sickness leading to a lack of money and a generally bad economy that didn’t leave them a whole lot of options if they wanted to have their own place.

The Tafoya’s understand the importance of establishing safe, drug-free zones in which families can live, but feel that the methods used by city officials lack the foresight and compassion needed to help those who are innocent victims themselves.

When she heard about this troubling story, Joy Junction Chief Administrative Officer Roseann Vona Page said it offered an opportunity for Albuquerque to be an example to other cities, but sadly, it has brought shame upon our community.

She added, “Why are the people of this wonderful city not outraged about actions like this ?”

Specifically, when the services of Nuisance Abatement are called for, or the Safe City Strike Force, maybe the city could tone down its overly zealous behavior and at least show up with some social workers, health care officials and a list of resources for those who will find themselves out on the streets with just a few hours notice.

Is that really too much to ask ?

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master’s degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "The Face of Homelessness." Additional details are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. Reynalds’ upcoming book is "We All Need a Little Help." It will be released on October 3 2008. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact : Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel : (505) 400-7145. Note : A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.