The Human Toll...

...of the sprawl-provoked credit crisis:

Shelby and millions of other young people have become the largely overlooked victims of a real estate crisis that's led to record foreclosures, sinking home prices and rising numbers of families straining to pay mortgage bills as adjustable-rate loans grow more costly and home equity shrinks. Children and teenagers are enduring a variety of consequences — forced to move and say goodbye to friends, leaving behind schools and teachers, and losing the ability to take family vacations or take part in summer camps because of the financial strain.

Some are giving away family pets or suddenly finding themselves in charge of babysitting siblings because parents can no longer afford child care. In the most drastic cases, some wind up living with relatives or even in temporary shelters for the homeless.