Studies suggest that people living in poor communities have fewer resources that can serve to buffer stressful events or circumstances, and are therefore more vulnerable to their impact [1, 18]. Indeed, many of the participants described how taking on the burden of a family member or friend strained already limited resources: for example, bringing extended family members into an ready crowded apartment, or working ‘‘doubles’’ (i.e. double shifts) to support a family member who has been laid off. In every such example, the impact of the stressor was magnified by an underlying vulnerability