Ken Hendricks and Debbie Torgerson began working on the homeless movie while living out of their car on a dirt road. They had just moved to St. Paul and were struggling to keep their car running while looking for work.
After two months of only sporadic temporary labor, Ken and Deb decided to drive to Florida to find work rebuilding homes after Hurricane Andrew. Pulled over in Georgia for a DWI, they never made it to Florida.
After Ken completed his thirty day jail sentence, they returned to St. Paul during the Winter. There they rented a one room apartment in a downtown tenement building, living on their welfare income of $410.00.
During this time Debbie's chronic alcoholism became life threatening and she attempted to get into treatment. This change almost ripped Ken and Debbie's relationship apart, but Debbie later returned to drinking.
By Spring Ken found part time work building fireplaces and they moved to a different apartment in East St. Paul. They continue to live in poverty and on the edge of homelessness