Who Is My Neighbor?: Communicating and Organizing to End Homelessness

ISBN-13: 9781594516481 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 224 str.

Phillip K. Tompkins

Opis

Who Is My Neighbor? is a compelling account of the author's ten-year journey as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center, a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. A retired Professor of Communication, Phil Tompkins marshals his considerable experience as a participant observer in recording the voices of the guests of the shelter as they teach us about their situation. We learn about their hopes for regaining a home and their fears as they are victimized-in some cases even murdered. Tompkins shows how effective communication and organization can contribute to finding an end to homelessness and establishing a movement toward protective action, especially when a proactive local government gets involved. In addition to giving voice to homeless people, Who Is My Neighbor? explores Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's ambitious Commission to End Homelessness. This remarkable social experiment, now called Denver's Road Home, is two years into implementing an innovative plan for ending homelessness. It provides a model for other cities nationwide where persistent homelessness has defied resolution.

Spis treści

Preface Chapter 1: Down and Out and on the Road Chapter 2: Christmas in St. Francis Center: Entry, Socialization, and Assimilation Chapter 3: The History of Homelessness: America and Denver Chapter 4: Mother Teresa, Liminality, and Abeyance Chapter 5: Seasons, Cycles, and Relative Deprivation Chapter 6: Police Harassment and Degrees of Being Chapter 7: The Social Construction of Killers by Means of Communication Chapter 8: The Visible Hand of Compassion Chapter 9: An Existential Look at Homelessness Chapter 10: A Crisis Meeting at the Shelter Chapter 11: The Collective Discipline of Compassion Chapter 12: Charity Versus Justice Chapter 13: The Faces of Homelessness Chapter 14: Denver's Road Home Notes

O autorze

PhillipK. Tompkins