Wandering But Never Lost: A Study of the Transient Homeless

Date of Award

Spring 4-26-2011

Degree Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

For many years my mother worked with the social service agency of our local parish on projects serving the area's homeless population. As a result, many weekends throughout my life have been spent assisting at local soup kitchens, shelters, and parish functions for the homeless. As a housed individual, I began wondering at a young age how other individuals, especially adults, found themselves in the predicament. From my subjective and childish, narrow-minded point of view, I could not understand the phenomena. I had been blessed with parents that stuck around and were able to find work, along with good fortune, and naively believed that making a living and having a stationary life was more than easy, it was a "natural" function of life. I wondered why these individuals simply didn't go to the bank and take out money and begin a settled life. Was is a lifestyle choice? Was it someone's fault? How did they get there?

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS