The importance of moving toward a national policy to end homelessness is crucial. In this striking examination of the roles that homeless people and the U.S. government play in causing and curtailing the escalating phenomena of homelessness, Edna Molina-Jackson asserts that there is a great need to alter the socio-economic structures that generate extreme and entrenched forms of poverty that lead to homelessness. Homeless Not Hopeless explores the role social networks play in the daily survival of homeless Latino and African American men. Using a qualitative research design, author Molina-Jackson observes how these men initiate, participate in, and maintain social networks and how these networks function. The findings support a more empowering view of homeless men as active, rational, and competent actors engaged in negotiating their social world. Members rely on social networks composed of a hierarchy of casual and intimate affiliations. The networks of Americanized Latinos and African Americans facilitate their integration into a subculture of street life, while those of recent-immigrant Latinos revolve around their struggles to find work, avoid deportation, and enlist the support of paisanos.

John Fritz became homeless at age 16. He quit school and became a tramp hitchhiking back and forth across the country. He tried many times to quit drinking and settle down, but he failed each time. His lifestyle resulted in twelve DWI's, and he was checked into treatment centers sixteen times for chemical dependency. He accumulated time in various jails totaling four years of his life, and he spent another four years in the Minnesota penitentiary system. Then he was diagnosed with mental illness. Despite all these stigmas, John somehow turned his life around. His story is laced with funny experiences, colorful characters riding freight trains, and close encounters with death. He was touched by the kindness of strangers again and again. John has an excellent memory and is a natural storyteller. After all of his failures and the things he's been through, readers will be surprised to learn in the final chapter, "Recovery," how John is now living his life.

In Blessings of the Burden Alan R. Burt shares his heart for people who are homeless. Full of personal stories drawn from almost two decades of firsthand experience working with the homeless, this book is a passionate plea for greater community involvement in confronting the pressing social problem of homelessness. Unfolding in five parts, Blessings of the Burden includes Burt's own journey from apathy to advocacy, a moving interview with a formerly homeless man who is now the director of an organization that fights homelessness in Cape Cod, Burt's analysis of the fourteen main reasons why homelessness is such a massive problem in America, and an example of how one community developed an innovative and cost-effective approach to helping the homeless among them. Powerful and compelling, Blessings of the Burden will inspire readers to get involved with the homeless and to become advocates for their needs, believing that they can make a difference in their communities.

Songs of Life on Lifes’ Terms By: William Burke Poetry in song for the rest of us is the theme of Songs of Life on Lifes’ Terms. It explores life situations that occur in most people’s lives. The poetry gets to the heart of everyday life in a way that everyone can relate to. After reading this, William Burke hopes the reader realizes that no matter how big their problems may be, they are not alone.

Describes the struggled with homelessness and have overcome.Powerful poetry of reflection of hope and faith as well as facts and information about homelessness. Homeless but not hopeless carries a message of Hope and Faith providing inspiration and a message of love and Humanity- Kaye Lynn Booth Author POWERFUL!!!- Minister Emmanuel Davis Elder Charles Johnson has a true impact on the homeless not just in words alone but in Deeds- Dr. James Turknett My brother has been blessed to have great creativity and skills and putting poetry together that touches the heart as well as making one think about the issues of the day - Sargent Rodney Hinkle, Salvation Army

Concentrating on three main themes, this text argues that it is the rise in community opposition across race, class, and region that should be considered in terms of the changing social construction of stigma.