Living without heat in winter is common reality for the poor in US

Washington

AT the end of a row of abandoned homes in one of Washington's poorest neighbourhoods, it is 7.30 am, and Chamika McLaughlin climbs out of bed. She dreads this time of day. It is when she has to make a choice between two terrible options. Does she stay cold? Or does she put her life at risk?

Ms McLaughlin pulls on a blue hat, wraps a black sweater around her slight frame and pads into the kitchen. Hands tucked in her armpits, she shivers in the early morning chill. School is cancelled today, and her 12-year-old son, sleeping in one of the apartment's two bedrooms, will soon awake. She has to get the house warmer. So, as she has done countless times over two heatless winters in this apartment, she reaches for the oven dial.