The following is a transcript of a report by Jim Parsons that first aired Dec. 17, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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About 2,000 people in the greater Pittsburgh area are homeless, and more than one-third of the homeless in our midst are children averaging the age of 8.

Team 4 Investigative reporter Jim Parsons begins WTAE Channel 4's weeklong report on Poverty in Pittsburgh, with a look at housing and homelessness.

Video: Watch Parsons' Report

Pittsburgh's homeless might not be a new image, but what a 10-year-old straight "A" student? The boy is every bit as homeless as a woman living under a garbage bag.

The homeless are not just the street people, bag ladies or vagrants anymore.

"Professional folks," said Paul Freyde of the Salvation Army. "Doctors, lawyers, nurses. Heck, in one of our programs, we just finished working with an airline pilot."

Drugs, disabilities and debt are the main contributors to being homeless, experts said.

"I worked all my life, always provide for my wife," said Hurricane Katrina victim Stephen Rall. "Now I can't do it no more."

Steve and his wife, Ronda, moved back to the Pittsburgh area after Hurricane Katrina flattened their Gulfport, Miss., home. Steve was a successful chef on the Gulf Coast, but Katrina and an ailment that affects his heart and lungs changed all of that.

And his wife just completed treatment for breast cancer.

FEMA funding for their apartment in Carnegie runs out next month. After that, they don't know where or how they'll live.

"We had everything in life, had a good job," said Steve Rall. "Financially, I was in a good position. Had a good home. Everything was paid for. And in one day's time, it was all gone, and we had nothing. And it could happen to anybody."

And it doesn't take a hurricane.

"Yeah, I was on the street for six weeks," said Larry Fate, of Pittsburgh.

Fate has been a tenant at Wood Street Commons for just one week. Alvin Morton has been living in his one room for 32 years.

"What's in this building is what makes up our country," said Morton.

Founded and funded by the late Sen. John Heinz, Wood Street Commons lives on as a solution for homelessness to more than 200 residents. But next spring, it could be forced to close. That's because Allegheny County plans to move its human service offices out of the building when its lease expires in June. That's a $1 million a year hit for the nonprofit that owns and operates the building.

"It's the commercial side of our building," said Social Services Director Jeff Ash. "The other side that we need to sustain our mortgage, and with the county pulling out, we definitely need some assistance."

"It will be a challenge for a lot of people, and it will be a sad situation," said Morton. "Because for a lot of people, this is it."

Mac McMahon is director of homeless services for Community Human Services Corporation, the nonprofit that owns Wood Street Commons. McMahon played a key role in 2004 drawing up Pittsburgh's 10-year plan to end homelessness. The loss of Wood Street Commons, he said, would be devastating.

"We'll be starting about 10 steps back than where we started originally when we put the plan together, because we lost this valuable housing resource," said McMahon. "It would be that serious of an impact."

Salvation Army operates Pittsburgh's only shelter for entire families. Mothers, fathers and their children can stay as long as it takes to get a place of their own.

"People who come here have mismanaged funding, have had addiction situations where they need to find a place to live, because family and friends have had enough," said Maj. Carol Honsberger of the Salvation Army.

But when they're ready to move up and out, the challenge in the Pittsburgh area is finding something affordable.

"The Section 8 waiting list is frozen," said McMahon. "That was a resource we were using to help people get affordable housing."

And so for families like Steve and Rhonda this Christmas, life on the street is only one step away.

"We'll deal with it, and we'll get on with life, somehow and some way," said Rhonda Rall. "We are survivors. We're not going to give up."

When Team 4 visited Steve and Rhonda last week, they didn't have winter outerwear. So, Team 4 contacted the Chartiers Valley Salvation Army and they now have everything they need to stay warm this winter.

But as for a long-term affordable housing solution for Steve and Rhonda and others who are vulnerable, there is still a lot of work to do in this community.

One person who can make a difference is Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey. He serves on the Senate Subcommittee on Housing that oversees the Section 8 voucher program.

Casey said he always welcomes input from constituents.

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