Beyond Homelessness

This book is a brilliant use of metaphor that makes clear why the world leaves us feeling so uneasy!

Interviews with nine observers from the humanities, social and medical sciences, and human services examine the nature and conditions of this ongoing crisis.

What would the world look like if everyone had a home? The rise in homeless encampments. The destruction of our planet. The disconnection from place caused by capitalism and technology. Beyond the unavailability of housing, our culture is experiencing a devastating loss of home. In Beyond Homelessness, Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh explore the relationship between socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural homelessness. Bouma-Prediger and Walsh blend groundbreaking scholarship with stirring biblical meditations, while enriching their discussion with literature, music, and art. Offering practical solutions and a hope-filled vision of home, they show how to heal the deep dislocations in our society. In this fifteenth-anniversary edition, the authors return to their work with a new postscript, in which they discuss the evolution of their ideas and share true stories of home and community built anew. This revitalized classic is a must-read for any Christian committed to social justice—and anyone longing for home.

Newspapers, television and films cast homeless shelters as places of desperation, sadness and sickness. However, over the last 25 years, homeless shelters have changed dramatically. Shelters have become more professional and sophisticated in addressing homelessness in their communities. They now do much more than provide a bed and a meal for the night — they offer different methods of intervention, different types of services and different forms of connection to the communities they serve. This book offers essays by experienced shelter managers who address the future of the homeless shelter in Canada. This diverse collection also includes a chapter by Dr. Sam Tsemberis, the father of the successful Housing First Model. There are contributions by leaders in the homelessness field from across Canada, who have been at the forefront of developing unique services for women, youth, Indigenous people, and families. The days of shelters serving to merely warehouse homeless people out of sight and mind are being replaced by specialized approaches that are reducing homelessness in Canada. The contributors have years of experience understanding the causes of and solutions to homelessness and the role that shelters can play in achieving their ultimate goal — the elimination of all forms of homelessness in Canada.

The football star made famous in the hit film (and book) The Blind Side reflects on how far he has come from the circumstances of his youth. Michael Oher shares his personal account of his story, in this inspirational New York Times bestseller. Looking back on how he went from being a homeless child in Memphis to playing in the NFL, Michael talks about the goals he had to break out of the cycle of poverty, addiction, and hopelessness that trapped his family. Eventually he grasped onto football as his ticket out and worked hard to make his dream into a reality. With his adoptive family, the Touhys, and other influential people in mind, he describes the absolute necessity of seeking out positive role models and good friends who share the same values to achieve one's dreams. Sharing untold stories of heartache, determination, courage, and love, I Beat the Odds is an incredibly rousing tale of one young man's quest to achieve the American dream.

The Book on Ending Homelessness provides insights for those in the industry, elected officials, policy makers, funders, public servants and the general public on the best ways to move from managing homelessness to ending homelessness. While ending homelessness may seem to be a whacky or even preposterous idea, Iain De Jong takes more than two decades of experience as an award winning industry leader to lay out how and why homelessness can be ended in very practical ways. This book will provoke and teach, serving as both inspiration and an instruction manual for those serious about combatting one of the most important social issues of our time. The book will reshape how you think about homelessness, as well as how strategies like sheltering, street outreach and day services all play a role in ending homelessness when operated with a housing-focused lens and the right service orientation. No doubt the book will reassure some that their thinking and actions regarding homelessness are bang on, while challenging others to think and respond differently in what they do and how they invest their money. Many of the ideas in the book elaborate upon ideas that Iain shares in his blog, keynote speeches and conference presentations, as well as the training series that Iain and his team have been offering for the past decade. If you are involved in homelessness issues or concerned about homelessness, this book is essential reading.

★ “An outstanding, sophisticated introduction to a complex topic, this book encourages readers to prioritize kindness towards and dignity for people experiencing homelessness. Recommended as a first purchase.”—School Library Journal, starred review There are 150 million people experiencing homelessness worldwide, and that number is increasing every year. Homelessness is not a choice, yet it exists in almost every community. But why are people homeless? Who are they? What can you do? In Shelter: Homelessness in Our Community, readers will get answers to these complex questions. They’ll learn about the root causes of homelessness and its effects, and what people and organizations around the world are doing to address the problem. It shares the personal stories of people who live on the street and the adults and kids who work with them. As a former homeless-shelter worker, author Lois Peterson encourages young people to approach the issue with knowledge and compassion. She dispels some of the myths about homelessness and makes the case for why everyone deserves a safe, permanent place to call home.

A few days shy of her 55th birthday, DeBorah finds herself living in a homeless women's shelter. Her education and accomplishments to this point say that she should not be there, however, the reality of her lack of income and inability to maintain housing insists otherwise. Attitudes, myths, and perceptions about poverty provide the backdrop for advocacy towards a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness and call for the right to counsel for people facing eviction. Justice and equity considerations, systematic and institutional dynamics, and the trauma of homelessness frame this personal journey of loss, enlightenment, and empowerment.