Family one of many struggling financially through tough economy

The only constant is change itself.

As sage a piece of wisdom as it may be, for needy Southern Nevadans it means more.

The effects of changes to income levels, job availability, the definition of "poor," unemployment and beyond are all around. Although showing improvement, Nevada has 13.4 percent of its labor force out of work. The figure exceeds the national average of 8.6 percent, from the state labor department's November findings .

All around, ends are struggling to meet and Nevadans, though resilient, continue to hurt.

For the Zaudke-Bloomquist family, evidence can be found in their living room.

The Centennial Hills family shares a one-bedroom Budget Suites weekly rental. Although Lois, 5, and Dylan, 4, are small, their energy -- and toys -- abound.

Their parents, Earl Bloomquist and Alyssa Zaudke, had maintenance staff members remove the kitchen table and couch to make room for Lois and Dylan's beds and to allow for more storage space for their things.

"We've got a lot for what we have," Zaudke said.

Every inch of apartment space is accounted for: shoes line a radiator; storage boxes support toy bins and stacks of clothes; dishes drip dry next to overflow pantry items.

For the last three years, the family members started to outgrow a space that was meant to be temporary. They moved in after Bloomquist lost his job as a handyman for an apartment complex.

Unemployment benefits exhausted in time. "That 99 weeks goes pretty fast," Bloomquist said.

Since then, Zaudke, 32, has supported the growing family on her income as a bank clerk. Bloomquist, 46, leaves the house at 6 a.m. looking for work. Many days, his approach is door-to-door.

"I beat the street looking for anything," he said. "I'll rake leaves, anything."

Earning an unpredictable day wage is a far cry from when Bloomquist would net $1,000 in tips a day as a bellhop and limo driver at the Las Vegas Hilton. He spent 20 years with the job. He remembered opening up the newspaper and seeing pages and pages of requests for construction workers and handymen , he said.

"Now, nothing," he said of the classified offerings.

The family lives paycheck-to-paycheck but does not receive government assistance, Zaudke said.

"We thought about it, but we want to do it on our own," she said.

But the Zaudke-Bloomquist family isn't alone in that its needs exceed the means many times.

About 20.5 million Americans, or 6.7 percent , fall in the bottom half of the official poverty level, according to Associated Press findings. Nevada had the biggest jump of residents below the poverty level from 4.6 percent to 7 percent since 2007.

Thomas Carroll, professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said America's Ozzie and Harriet days "are a distant memory."

He warned that today's situation could result in long-term effects for those who have lost their jobs because when the economy recovers and companies hire again, employers will look at applications and find months, perhaps years, of inactivity in the work force.

"They'll see a period of unemployment for a couple years and go, 'I don't know if this guy was lazy or what, and I'm not going to bother to find out,' " he said. "It's a big, gaping hole that could follow them (applicants) for a long time ... this could be a lost generation."

Meanwhile, many are living hand to mouth. Three Square food bank feeds about 100,000 people a year via about 600 program partners. One in six Southern Nevadans struggles with hunger, the food bank estimates.

Bloomquist said he has lost 30 pounds in the last three years because "we don't eat like we used to." He rides a bike to save on gas for the car that he and Zaudke share.

"If I can't make any money in a day and use all the gas in the car, that'd be bad," he said.

The family doesn't plan to move to greener pastures, though.

"I couldn't see living anywhere else," Bloomquist said.

Zaudke has family nearby, and Lois is enrolled at a local elementary school. The youngster excels in her class and dotes on her parents when home.

"I love you," she says spontaneously to her mom.

"I love you, too," Zaudke says with a laugh.

The couple said they've found upsides to hard times.

"I have a different perspective," Bloomquist said. "Family is everything."

"We don't have a lot of room or extras, but we're happy," Zaudke said. "We give each other strength."

To help the family's cause, call 787-7211.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.