Hope and Struggle in America

Soap opera actor Drake Hogestyn, 56, reclines in his agents office in Burbank. After 23 years of acting on the daytime soap opera, “Days of Our Lives,” Hogestyn was let go due to economic cutbacks on the show.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Stephen R. Kemp, manager and director of Haley Funeral Directors, holds an urn that has yet to be collected by relatives at the funeral home in Southfield, Michigan. Many relatives cannot afford to pick up the cremains of their deceased family members. “I can’t keep doing this. You got to get funding from somewhere. I’m taking a tremendous loss as it is,” Kemp said.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Psychic Alex Palermo, 41, owner of the Original Tremont Tearoom, presides over a deck of tarot cards waiting to predict America’s financial future in Boston.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Bertha Greenstein, 90, met David Gold at a dance when she was 17. He courted her over the counter of her father’s bakery, and they married in 1941. The couple traveled the world, pursuing their hobby of learning new dances.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Joni Taylor, 53, president of Friends Involved in Dog Outreach, spends a quiet moment with her dog Clancy surrounded by donated bags of dog food at the food bank for dogs in Oregon City, Portland.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Minas Polychronakis, 68, owner of Minas Shoe Repair on Wall Street, sits near the storefront window in New York. Business is brisk for the shoe cobbler with many people choosing to have their shoes resoled as opposed to buying a new pair.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Professional video gamer Yazan “clowN” Ammari, 23, prepares to play a game of Counter-Strike in his room at his parents home in Granda Hills. Due to the recent downturn in the economy Ammari has lost sponsorship and is finding it difficult to make a living as a video gamer.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Judy Kyser briefly attended Michigan State College and, under the stage name Judy Perkins, became a country music performer, starring in the “Midwestern Hayride” television show in the 1940s. Today, the 84-year-old lives in Springdale, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Harding, 82, served in the Navy in World War II, graduated from seminary, married in 1948 and had four children. Harding, now a part-time minister in Sudbury, Mass., established a group of retired United Methodist Church pastors in New England who perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)