just so i am clear - impressionable young girl starts life with parents keeping a home in the same condition as a garbage dump, parents fighting all the time, and parents that live the life of swingers, sometimes bringing home the swapping partners. aforementioned teen does drugs, drops out of school, has sex, lies, manipulates, etc.....is anyone seriously wondering why this young girl ended up the way she did with such horrible parents? they should both be ashamed for raising those children in those conditions.

Unemployment here in western NC was 19.1 in January 2010, after a decade of job losses. I wonder after all this time if we as a country are going to be able to recover to any semblance of before.

My name is Avis Kelley I live in Greenville South Carolina. I know how hard it is my husband lost his job .I have a job but not enough to make ends meet. We lost our home and now he is sick and can not work. We may be homeless. IS THIS AMERICA .

"The Town That Jobs Forgot"....Leave it to Dateline to play the race card and whine about how mistreated African Americans are , hey baby just in case you haven't noticed we all have it bad out here and it's not just a black thing. A real good start to fixing this economy is to kick out all the illegals who are taking up the jobs that are out there and giving those jobs to Americans...Americans First Baby !

It seems like most of these people learned and grew. However, the lady with the restaurant seems to still not get it. The maintenance of that house has got to be pricey, and her daughter got one year of college free...guess what schools do that to bring you in and then you have to pay for the last 3 years. Oh and I wonder how many of these people vote Republican? Wake up people vote your pay check or stop complaining.

This is not a "race card" program. Kimberly and her daughter are doing what they can do. Ron H. is a bit on the hateful side (understatement). If you think blacks have not been mistreated follow me into a time machine in NW Louisiana. (I am white). Racial abuse had been kept under wraps for decades until a file of videos from the early 50's proved we were no angels (the adults of those times). My father bragged about blacks being beaten in the basement of the courthouse. His attitude mellowed with age.

Chenise, who joined the Army, makes me very proud. I am a vetaran and her 4 years in the Army helped my daughter to really grow up. She is very successful now in her career and continuing college education. My husband's Irish father would have been considered an "alien", but with his citizenship came his service in WWII. He drove a truck with Patton's 3rd Army and was among the soldiers who came upon some of the Concentration Camps--up close and personal. Would you kick him out?

How do you define an American?

I don't care...race, religion or otherwise! Thank you for this beautiful program putting on display what is happening in our country. The country I love. The county that I am a daughter of every American War ever fought. I am part Cherokee, but also German, Engllish, French and Irish. This is my country, the country we need to again be proud of, to take a part of. It makes me so sad to see what is happening. Come on, America! Stand up and be proud! Bring it home again! Thank you, Lester!

"The town that jobs forgot".....Are you kidding me?? Did anyone else notice the difference between Krystal's problems and Kimberly and Sandy's? Krystal was sitting in a beautiful home, designer clothes, bleached blonde hair, tan, inground swimming pool with plants galore. So sad her daughter couldn't go to the college of her choice, but still went to college! It took me three years to find, 2 part-time jobs, my house, yes i saved it with the MHA, it took two years, my senator's help, and bankruptcy. It's maintenance suffered, unlike Krystal's. Kimberly's daughter was an honor student, but enlisted because the was the best choice for her family. They moved to a smaller home. Kimberly and Sandy had no jobs, Krystal had a business in an actual location! How is her suffering in any way close to Kim & Sandy's? Oh, her rich spoiled life may have suffered a few blows, but she did not sacrifice any way near what the other two women did. Krystal should have never been put in that dateline piece, because i'm sure in that town there were way more people that should have been. As for her daughter's being "embarressed" because they had medicare cards. Shame on you snobby brats! Do you know how many people have nothing, and cannot even go to the doctors?? Grow up for real!

When is this government going to wake up and realize that all of these companies that are out sourcing to other countries are destroying our economy. It's right in front of our faces. Manufacturers have always been our largest employers. greed is making these companies go overseas. It's not that They can't compete. They can still make millions here. It's because they can make more millions by using cheaper labor in other countries. Not to mention the lack of environmental controls in some countries which saves them money. So I guess it's ok to poison other people. Wake up America. It may cost us all a little more but we should boycott any American company that moves or has moved overseas, put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work and ruined our economy. Then they expect us to buy their products and bask in the wealth of our American dollars. We won't even get into the lawyers running rampant in this country, suing everybody and everything. The government needs to step in and put a stop to this GREED!!!

Millan, Ga. Dateline's story by Lester Holt should be viewed by everyone working in our government system. Tears ran down my face during most of this Dateline show. How could this be my America but at the same time the human spirit of the people Lester Holt interviewed showed what the American is all about. Our elected officals in Washington live in a different world and are so far out of touch with the average American's life. Can we ever make them see, understand and get in touch? This documentary may at least get them to start realizing something, who knows!! Millan, Ga. hats off to all of you! Thanks Lester for such an eye opening story. Really, every American should see this story!

Millen, Ga is a perfect example of ENTITLEMENTS that will destroy this nation.

Why should our tax dollars pay for his woman to reduce her mortgage?    This is WELFARE and it is DISGUSTING.  She obviously made good money for YEARS but what did she do....live beyond her means. 

One downturn and her children are on medicaid when she is living in a huge home with a pool?

She was to stupid to know she is the CANCER that is killing our nation.

I do not judge anyone who has gotten into a fix because of this economy. Now I understand why my parents seemed "stingy". My class mates had their hair done, dressed well and I looked less than fashionable. I learned one thing--"Live within your means". BUT anyone--through no fault of their own--can fall into a deep hole. I ended up disabled from my Vietnam service. When I got my first back pay check it went into savings and I later really upset my local Hyundai dealership by buying what I could afford--a Sonata--cash. Never did that before.

I add extra to the principle on our townhouse every month and always pay off my credit card balance when it comes due. Gosh that Amazon "one click" is just too easy. The American advertising industry really pushes products--especially vehicles--which people do not need and cannot "feed" much less afford. No matter how far out I park a monster parks next to me. I will never forget the woman who dressed in color coordination with her Hummer--my daughter has driving a real HMMVVEE (not sure of spelling) for the Army.

God help us all--I don't have the answers to this mess.

I agree with you Stevecruiser. I am as white as it gets and that poor black lady struggled to get a rented manufactured home. She was so happy to finally have her own bathroom. The only other thing she wanted was an education for her daughter. Heaven holds a place for people like her.

Interesting how everyone sees everything so differently! Just like what happens in Washington. Most people who are hard working, have go integrity and and respect for themselves do not take advantage of our system. They use it if they need to and get back to being productive as soon as they can. Like the one lady said, what we do in life defines who we are and makes us feel valuable. On another note, I did not see a "race card" in this program at all. I saw people!

What Krystal's children going to a private school in another county? She closed that restaurant of her own choice. Her older daughter graduated from a private school in Burke County.

Sell the house

As a lifelong resident of Jenkins County, it pained me to see that show. Nothing was mentioned about Krystal's children going to a private school. There's an expense that could be cut to save the house. I'll give her credit for her business. She busted her hump to get it, but she also was guilty of splurging. And her daughter, "Oh no what about my new car?!?!?!?"

Nothing was said about Sandy being caught up in an embezzlement case when she was fired from the bank.

The only person that deserved to be featured there was Kim. She is the embodiment of "working class mom". I commend her and her daughter for their efforts.

There were many others who could have been featured and would have done a better job representing our community. That's just my .02. What do I know though?

Really??? I live in a small resort town in California....owned my own business for 15 years, drove a school bus for 15 years, real estate license, worked for C-21 as Office Manager and Escrow Coordinater, and have applied for every job that comes available,,,, worked for Round Table ....but oh wait they hired too many people...my unemployment has run out... my husband who has run many businesses is assistant manager to people who never show up to work......I am now working at a summer time resort.. we are losing our home after 30 some odd years of buying fixing up and reselling.......all jobs now are apply online...take the personality test, can't even talk to human beings anymore.....they say don"t call and ask any questions.... talk about frustrating. confussing.......we are done don't know where to go...

ohh sorry forgot to say....seriously...why not get in touch with real America.,......

I have lived in Millen all of my life and was very disappointed in the show. Yes, we have been impacted by the job losses and recession beyond words and this should be reported fairly. However, I was not impressed with Krystal's story at all. She and her daughter do not represent the hard-working people in this community who live simply and honestly and don't whine because they can't go to the college of their choice (I didn't, but was privileged to go to college at my second choice) and/or drive a new car as a teenager (again, my first car was a pre-owned car that I bought after graduating from college). I wish that the producers/writers had found better representatives of our community, more people like Kim and her daughter and focused on them rather than Krystal's family.

In our area, school systems hire back retired teachers part-time to offset the cost of hiring other teachers who have better credentials. In other cases, school systems have literally offered positions for "young teachers" who have not achieved "highly qualified status." In both cases, employers discriminate against you if you are well educated and older. For that reason, some employers minimize the credentials for a job position. It makes people like Sandy over-qualified and unemployable, and people like Kim think they are qualified--but feel they are not considered as a result of discrimination. Either way, this type of hiring practice has got to stop because it is depriving kids of a better education.

If Dateline wants to receive empathy from their audience, then they should be very mindful of the image of the people they present. When a program features a mother and daughter with manicures and a woman with an extravagant diamond ring, both the program and individuals have lost any legitimacy with the viewer. Americans are not entitled to anything and should live a lifestyle that can account for these crises.

FACTS: Started working when I was 13. Bought small restaurant when 23. Paid my bills, expanded the rest., saved money, worked more than most of you could even fathom, raised my girls properly, coached softball for 15 years (Kimberly and Sandy's daughters as well as mine), supported nearly EVERY group in Millen via donations/ads/discounted meals, and took care of many people because of the restaurant. MY HUSBAND (yes, he finished college, while he had a full-time job) had a great job here. When we built this house and the "swimming pool" (most vehicles cost more than a pool), I had the cafeteria @ Jockey, International AND the restaurant was booming. My husband and I both worked 60-70 hr. weeks. We had group health insurance. We have been contributors to the tax system our entire life. WE didn't cause the recession. When EVERY plant in Millen shut down, we could have filed bankruptcy and left everything that we worked so hard for behind. But we fought back. I taught myself and my family how to screen print tshirts. And we did this everyday and night to keep what we had. I didn't "choose" to close the restaurant; the economy closed it for me. I STILL MADE PAYMENTS ON IT EVERY MONTH and paid the electric bill, taxes, insurance, etc. Where do you think this money came from? Not the government! My husbands plant closed down a few months after that (after working since he was 14) and he received unemployment benefits for 6 months only!!! Guess how much I received? NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am officer of the KTOK corporation and was not entitled. So, I worked hard to build up the shirt business. Last year I was offered a coaching job for Varsity Softball @ EBA. It's in the next town over, Waynesboro. As a family, we decided to open a shop in Waynesboro and while I worked 15 and 16 hour days, I ALSO coached both my girls at EBA! (By the way, my FAMILY means more to me than anything!) There was a reason they were there. So I could still be "Mama" while working to provide for them! That would not have been possible if they were in school in Millen, which is where I graduated from and is an EXCELLENT school! I built that business up working MANY, long hour, 7 days a week (all the while we are STILL paying the bills on KTOK) and sold it in March. Neither of our girls had ever been in the hospital until we lost our insurance benefits. And let me ASSURE you, "your" money was not used to pay those bills. I have been paying on payment plans to 2 hospitals for 2 years. Yes, the girls were finally approved for medicaid, but JUST AS SOON as they were able to be covered under my husbands insurance, we took them off. Y'all act like they racked up $100k in medical bills. You are wrong. As for the home modification, go online and look it up. No one has given us ANYTHING, but a reduced interest rate, that goes up every 3 years. We still pay the payment and taxes!! You are wrong if you think your money is being used to support me and my family. My husband found a job after 6 months in the next county, Burke. He is a good, hardworking, tax paying, law abiding man that has busted his behind to provide for his family. He didn't want us to do this piece for Dateline, because he knew there are people out there like you. As for the tan, I actually do my own gardening!! What?! Yes, i planted, split, divided, and seeded all the flowers in my yard. And it cost YOU absolutely NOTHING!! It's so easy for all of you to make judgements on a 40 min. clip. We know Whitley may seem "snobby and spoiled" to you, but she was asked to to be honest. And, honest she is, THANK GOD!! She told her views as a 16 year old until her present age, almost 19. As for college, she's not getting a "free" ride, you idiot. Go online and look at the requirements for "Hope". She EARNED it by making the grades! By the way, did you know Hope was funded by the Ga Lottery, NOT the government? Didn't think you did. As for the scholarships she received, they were not handing those out at our local Wal-mart. She applied for them and spent hours writing essays. That's right, she WORKED for those, too!! I have always told my girls, "If you put yourself out there, expect the criticism." We can handle it, trust me! After all we have been through in the past couple of years, the negative blogs mean nothing. As for all of you that have supported us, THANK YOU so much! We have gotten phone calls from all over the US thanking us for doing the program. It was not easy, I promise. And for those of you who have shared our struggles, please don't give up! It may not seem like it now, but things will get better. God bless all of you!!

I beg to differ, ma'am. I am "entitled" to anything that that I work honestly for. And, really? Manicures? We are in the food service business. I am pretty sure clean , manicured hands are a necessity.

Way to go Krystal! Everyone who knows you, knows how hard you have worked for everything you have.