No Place To Call Home

A tale of love, loss, identity, and belonging, No Place to Call Home tells the story of a family who fled to the United Kingdom from their native Congo to escape the political violence under the dictator, Le Maréchal. The young son Jean starts at a new school and struggles to fit in. An unlikely friendship gets him into a string of sticky situations, eventually leading to a suspension. At home, his parents pressure him to focus on school and get his act together, to behave more like his star-student little sister. As the family tries to integrate in and navigate modern British society while holding on to their roots and culture, they meet Tonton, a womanizer who loves alcohol and parties. Much to Jean's father's dismay, after losing his job, Tonton moves in with them. He introduces the family—via his church where colorful characters congregate—to a familiar community of fellow country-people, making them feel slightly less alone. The family begins to settle, but their current situation unravels and a threat to their future appears, while the fear of uncertainty remains.

The shocking poignant story of eviction, expulsion, and the hard-scrabble fight for a home They are reviled. For centuries the Roma have wandered Europe; during the Holocaust half a million were killed. After World War II and during the Troubles, a wave of Irish Travellers moved to England to make a better, safer life. They found places to settle down – but then, as Occupy was taking over Wall Street and London, the vocal Dale Farm community in Essex was evicted from their land. Many did not leave quietly; they put up a legal and at times physical fight. Award-winning journalist Katharine Quarmby takes us into the heat of the battle, following the Sheridan, McCarthy, Burton and Townsley families before and after the eviction, from Dale Farm to Meriden and other trouble spots. Based on exclusive access over the course of seven years and rich historical research, No Place to Call Home is a stunning narrative of long-sought justice.

Abstract: This publication reports the conclusions of a series of hearing concerning support and services for children in troubled families. The Congress has made a commitment to guarantee support in the form of out of home placement when necessary and reunification with their families when possible. This report sought to answer several questions including: are there fewer unnecessary placements of children out of their homes than previously occurred? When children must be placed, are there more effective permanent placements than there were ten years ago? Are children receiving quality services when they are entrusted to the child welfare system? Several failings of the systen are revealed while some promising policies, innovative strategies, and effective programs were found.

A story of resilience and hopethe life of a simple Palestinian girl who survived five wars, countless refugee camps, raised thirteen children, and now shares both her suffering and wisdom.

A tale told with honesty but also with humour. A grandfather with a dream which he couldn’t let go, despite everything. A family who are brutally evicted from their homeland and can find nowhere to settle. This is a story about an often restless and a largely forgotten people. There is always more than one side to a story. Forgetting the politics of a situation this is a story about human beings, in this one, Douglas and Dorothy Fenway and two succeeding generations and the adventures which befall them.

A Place to Call Home is a story of refugees no community wanted to see anywhere close to them, as if they were good for nothing. It is an epic portrayal of a painful dilemma of thousands of homeless internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were victims of the highly contested and disputed presidential election. The novel is a true, tear-jerking reflection of a botched election in December 2007 and January 2008, which culminated into a postelection violence that brutally killed almost there thousand innocent people. Some were burned alive inside a church—“God’s territory” as they called—where they had taken safe haven. About seven hundred thousand people were forcibly removed from their homes; some took refuge at police stations, while others fled to neighboring countries to remain alive. Business premises, vehicles, and other properties worth billions of shillings were destroyed, and domestic animals were stolen. This spate of violence happened at a time when thousands of ethnic militias heavily armed with homemade crude weapons were chanting war slogans and singing traditional war songs everywhere in the country. Loyal to their respective presidential candidates, the militias roamed the streets of towns and villages, making every journey perilous. Enemies who got caught were beheaded, and their heads were paraded or displayed on the main highways. Women were seized and gang-raped by the militias and got infected with the deadly HIV-AIDS virus. Amazingly, communities turned their backs against the combined IDPs who were looking for a permanent settlement, calling them foreigners, invaders, or land grabbers in their own country. Breathing under such horrifying circumstances, all IDPs drawn from various tribes resolved to live together in peace and harmony and to prove to the world that they could live with people from other communities without any problem, in spite of their language and cultural barriers. The idea of living together was instilled in the IDPs by VP Nyandege, who emerged as the leading light in their plight and the quest for what they could call home. VP Nyandege won a special place in fellow IDPs’ hearts and made them believe that life was worth fighting for. For seven years, these IDPs have been living in squalid conditions or in makeshift camps, waiting to be settled as promised by the ruling elite. The IDPs lived in rough and ready dwellings with no food, water, toilet facilities, social amenities, or sanitation at all. They were living in a world of their own; no laws, rules, or culture to observe. The fate of these IDPs is reminiscent of the Jews when they lived in Europe and were rejected by people in all countries after World War II and consequently had no place to call their home. After seven years in isolated makeshift camps, the IDPs were offered land to settle on by the Biblical Good Samaritan to prove that tribal groups, once sworn enemies, could live together peacefully and harmoniously. And now these IDPs would like to build the country’s first utopia, the same way the Israelis have transformed the desert land of Israel into another biblical Promised Land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey. (This unfortunate event was disseminated throughout the world by the mass media.)

In this lyrical debut, Ryan Berg immerses readers in the gritty, dangerous, and shockingly underreported world of homeless LGBTQ teens in New York. As a caseworker in a group home for disowned LGBTQ teenagers, Berg witnessed the struggles, fears, and ambitions of these disconnected youth as they resisted the pull of the street, tottering between destruction and survival. Focusing on the lives and loves of eight unforgettable youth, No House to Call My Home traces their efforts to break away from dangerous sex work and cycles of drug and alcohol abuse, and, in the process, to heal from years of trauma. From Bella's fervent desire for stability to Christina's irrepressible dreams of stardom to Benny's continuing efforts to find someone to love him, Berg uncovers the real lives behind the harrowing statistics: over 4,000 youth are homeless in New York City -- 43 percent of them identify as LGBTQ. Through these stories, Berg compels us to rethink the way we define privilege, identity, love, and family. Beyond the tears, bluster, and bravado, he reveals the force that allows them to carry on -- the irrepressible hope of youth.

“Rarely will a book touch your heart like A Place to Call Home. So sit back, put up your feet, and enjoy.”—The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Twenty years ago, Claire Maloney was the willful, pampered, tomboyish daughter of the town's most respected family, but that didn’t stop her from befriending Roan Sullivan, a fierce, motherless boy who lived in a rusted-out trailer amid junked cars. No one in Dunderry, Georgia—least of all Claire’s family--could understand the bond between these two mavericks. But Roan and Claire belonged together . . . until the dark afternoon when violence and terror overtook them, and Roan disappeared from Claire's life. Now, two decades later, Claire is adrift, and the Maloneys are still hoping the past can be buried under the rich Southern soil. But Roan Sullivan is about to walk back into their lives. . . . By turns tender and sexy and heartbreaking and exuberant, A Place to Call Home is an enthralling journey between two hearts—and a deliciously original novel from one of the most imaginative and appealing new voices in Southern fiction. Praise for A Place to Call Home “A beautiful, believable love story.”—Chicago Tribune “For sheer storytelling virtuosity, Ms. Smith has few equals.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch “Enchanting new novel . . . a beautiful love story of reunion.”—The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC “Stylishly written, filled with Southern ease and humor.”—Tampa Tribune