Homelessness Handbook

Packed with stories as well as thorough research and analysis from leading historians and social scientists, and compiled by the editor in chief of the SAGE Encyclopedia of Homelessness, the compact Homelessness Handbook is ideal for undergraduate courses and "will be indispensable for professionals working either to help people who are homeless or to address the causes of homelessness. It deserves high praise for its thoroughness...the essays do an excellent job of presenting the many issues related to this topic... Summing Up: Highly recommended." -CHOICE. Key FeaturesArticles highlight projects and approaches useful to professionals, students, and concerned citizens who want to understand homelessness and how it can be alleviated. Sidebars, quotes, and photos portray the history of homelessness, the many faces of homeless people, and successful programs that are working to end homelessness. Glossary terms, extensive bibliographies, and a comprehensive index provide many ways to navigate topics and locate information. "Don't make eye contact." We've all heard that. It's the standard advice for how we should react when we encounter a homeless person in our community. Look away as we might, we've all seen them: men, women, even children, sleeping in doorways or under freeway overpasses, standing along city streets with hand-lettered "Will work for food" signs, soliciting spare change at traffic signals and on sidewalks.They are the uncared for, the unaccounted for. More than merely society's "have-nots," the homeless have become society's "are-nots." If we look the other way, if we avoid eye contact, we can pretend that perhaps the homeless don't exist. They are not there. Of course, the homeless are there. However, homelessness isn't hopeless! The problem of homelessness can be solved if we, as a society, have the determination. Around the globe people have formed government, private-sector, nonprofit, and faith-based partnerships to solve the problem of homelessness in all of its dramatically different manifestations-from Dallas to Zimbabwe. Between 2000 and 2006 more than two hundred cities and counties across the United States launched ambitious initiatives to end homelessness within ten years. It's not just official efforts that count. Citizen involvement-through donations, marches, volunteerism, and pressure on government officials-is also crucial to solving a social problem that blights rich nations as well as the poorest of the poor.Featuring the research and analysis of the leading historians and social scientists in the field of homelessness, the Homelessness Handbook elucidates, motivates, and empowers-the ideal reference for students, professionals, activists, and anyone who needs to understand this vexing social problem.