Personal Journeys: Collateral damage

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One Alpharetta family is trying to pick up the pieces after The Great Recession.

Greg Clement rides MARTA to the airport en route to an October job interview in North Carolina. He said the interview went great, but he has yet to hear whether or not he got the job.

Greg Clement (from left), Bethany Clement, Joe Berrios, Ellie Colt and Genna Clement haul their gear back to their cars after attending Genna’s softball game in October.

From the apartment where the family moved after their home was foreclosed, Greg speaks with his sister on the phone, telling her about his family’s upcoming move to a rental in Alpharetta. Greg said the loss of his job and income shattered his ego.

Bethany, 17, (center) laughs with friends Ellie Colt (left) and Joe Berrios (right) as they watch her sister Genna’s softball game. Moving from the Alpharetta house to the apartment was “a culture shock,” she said. She didn’t want to leave the house she’d grown up in.

Genna, 15, works on her Spanish homework as her father, Greg, works on his laptop in their apartment, which she said never felt like home. “It was like a hotel,” Genna said.

Greg, left, breaks into a big smile as his daughter, Bethany, reacts to a large piece of furniture being brought into the rental home they moved into earlier this month.

Once they moved into their rental home, the Clement family’s spirits lifted. Greg (center) and his daughters Bethany (left) and Genna (right) sit on the front steps after moving in. Greg’s wife, Jan, remains at her parents’ home, though she may move in with them down the line.

Genna (left) and Bethany have a close relationship. “She’s like my best friend,” Genna said of her older sister. “I can come to her for advice.”

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Greg Clement rides MARTA to the airport en route to an October job interview in North Carolina. He said the interview went great, but he has yet to hear whether or not he got the job.

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