>This is just out of curiosity. How does one find programming work that can be done at home? I've not found a single employer that will allow telecommuting.

Some obvious ideas:

Word of mouth

get a little job on the side. A happy customer brings some more work and tells his friends and colleagues.

Networking

(user groups, meetings, etc.)

I have not been independent for over nine years now, but that's how I started it back in the 1980's