"Moving to Nowhere": Children's Stories of Homelessness

The number of homeless families in the United States continues to increase at an alarming rate. There is little doubt that becoming homeless and living in shelters has had significant effects on the lives of children in these families. While many empirical studies have documented the effects of homelessness on one or another aspect of children's lives, "Moving to Nowhere looks at the experience of losing one's home and living in a shelter from the perspective of the child. Children who are homeless here tell their own stories. They describe how they became homeless, why they think it happened to their family, what their expectations and concerns were as they realized they would be moving to a shelter, and what the shelter was like when they arrived. They speak often of missing their old neighborhoods, their friends, and their extended family. They report their fears, their worries about their family's future, the absence of money and resources, and, for some, the presence of violence or substance abuse in their families. They repeatedly tell of their embarassment about being homeless; this profoundly colors their relationships with friends, schoolmates, and teachers. And, in each of their stories, these children provide clear and moving examples of how they manage to survive on a day-to-day basis while they wait for permanent housing. Health care professionals, psychologists, and teachers, as well as students and the general public, will find this work poignant and instructive.Walsh, Mary E. is the author of '"Moving to Nowhere": Children's Stories of Homelessness', published 1992 under ISBN 9780865692022 and ISBN 0865692025.