Social Poverty

Since the early days of the American republic, political thinkers have maintained that a grossly unequal division of property, wealth, and power would lead to the erosion of democratic life. Yet over the past thirty-five years, neoconservatives and neoliberals alike have redrawn the tenets of American liberalism. Nowhere is this more evident than in our current mainstream political discourse, in which the politics of economic inequality are rarely discussed.

Valley View Senior Housing, built in 2019 in Napa County, California, is a very affordable community of 70 cottages. This groundbreaking homeless project was organized by American Canyon’s city government for older homeless people and homeless veterans of the area. This solution-oriented book shares the inspiring story of a compassionate and humane project. Imagine if every city could create one community like this - we could begin to make headway to solve the homeless problem.

"There are children in Holbeck without crayons. Living in a city with an opera company. An opera company paid for with money from all of us. Until everyone has crayons, no one gets opera. That’s what I believe." A deeply moving memoir of how a group of artists fed their local community during the COVID pandemic. When crisis hits and audiences stay home, what’s the most useful thing a theater company can do? The answer was to become a food bank and one-stop help shop for those in need. In 15 months, Slung Low would go on to deliver over 15,000 food parcels.

A collection of short stories about turning setback into comebacks. Author Troy Harris II was only sure of two things: he was uncomfortable, and in what seemed like a truly foreign land. As it turns out, he was just home less in Dallas....

Rachel, Cassie, and Joey live in the city with their Pop, until Pop's search for work lands the family on a run down farm. Dreamy Rachel loves to read, and doesn't know much about the country. Times are hard there, too - the school and library are closed. When Pop gets work near Canada, he has to leave the children on the farm alone. For two months! But Rachel's the oldest, and she'll make sure they're all right. Somehow.

When Eric Hofstein changed his career path, he didn’t expect to meet hundreds of lost souls, many of whom were desperate to be found. Here he shares what he learned about how the people he met became homeless, what kept them on the streets, and how to help them improve their lives. He learned what true harm reduction is and how to manage his expectations and not center himself in his outreach work.

For years we’ve been inundated with bleak forecasts about the future. But in this electrifying new book, author Byron Reese debunks the pessimistic outlook as dangerous, and shows instead how technology will soon create a dramatically better world for every person on earth, beyond anything we have dared to imagine. With the art of a storyteller, Reese synthesizes history, technology, and sociology into an exciting, fast-moving narrative that shows how technological change has had dramatic effects on humanity in the past.

Nick and Pascal live and sleep outside in central London. They are an unusual duo: Nick is an avid reader of history and philosophy able to converse on any topic; Pascal is quiet, spending much of his time lying still, communicating silently with birds and animals. They have lived alongside each other in London's streets for nearly two decades, yet do not identify as homeless. For the past five years they have taken shelter under the hornbeam trees in Regent's Park. Emma Tarlo first meets Nick and Pascal when out walking. Gradually they develop a friendship.

A holiday classic by Charles Dickens. Originally published in 1843, Dickens worried about the disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished, and it was his attempt to bring this disparity into the light of day, to appeal to the die-hard capitalists to take care of the downtrodden masses. Since this inequity continues, this story is still popular, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Stories define us. They tell us who we are or, at least, who we think we are. The American story of westward expansion draws upon heroic tales of courage and perseverance and the "pioneer spirit". But settlers and their descendants also spread false narratives about Indians in order to justify ruinous private and public acts. The stories we heard and the tales we hear even now give people cover to behave abominably. And this abominable behavior has economic effect.

We typically view poverty as a technical problem that we can solve with more money, more technology, and more volunteers. But there is an adaptive side to the problem of poverty, as well. Reframing Poverty directs our attention to the emotional and often unconscious mindsets we bring to this issue.

Dyamonde Daniel has her eye on a new pair of red high-top sneakers. Following some bad advice from a classmate, she thinks she has the right idea to go about getting them - by demanding her mother buy them! Unfortunately for Dyamonde, Mrs. Daniel doesn’t appreciate being told what to do and decides to teach her daughter a lesson. Soon Dyamonde finds herself in a clothing crisis, with almost zero to wear! Dyamonde is furious.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the government launched its ‘Everyone In’ programme, aiming to house the homeless through lockdown. The Prince Rupert, a four-star hotel in Shrewsbury with four poster beds and suits of armour, was asked to play their part and host 33 rough sleepers. This is the story of how the hotel owners and rough sleepers—many of whom had been out of housing for decades—spent months locked in together and wound up transforming each other’s lives.

The Miami Rescue Mission is now known as The Caring Place. Our vision is “No One Is Homeless.” Celebrating our centennial (100th anniversary) in 2022, we are on the path of great vision for the next 100 years to continue to serve the homeless and the hungry. We are expanding our footprint to help abused women and children and increasing more permanent housing for the future. Learn about our inspiring journey and many stories that will touch your heart. It is a miracle in the making, and yes, the best is yet to come.

From the bottom to the top of our economy, capitalism is too blunt an instrument to tackle Britain's epidemic of inequality. Soaring rents, unfair taxation and a growing gig economy have brought about unprecedented economic shame: Amazon warehouse workers living in tents, nurses turning to foodbanks, London firemen commuting hundreds of miles to work. Even those higher up the ladder are losing their grip on the life they were promised.

Belfast Charitable Society was established in 1752 with the purpose of raising funds to build a poorhouse and hospital for the poor of Belfast; twenty years later, the foundation stone of the Poorhouse was laid. From here the Society would go on to assume increasing responsibility for a range of matters relating to health, welfare and public order, and its members would play a key part in the civic life of Belfast. It continues to provide vital social services to this day and its Poorhouse, now Clifton House, is still one of the finest buildings in the city. During the century following the...

Mathieu vit dans la rue. Il l’a choisi. Ce n’est pas un aventurier, et ça n’a rien à voir avec la liberté. Est-ce qu’il s’autodétruit? Est-ce ainsi qu’il se préserve? Peu importe. Sa chienne Sam est là, qui l’aide à continuer. Mais quand elle disparaît, Mathieu doit mettre fin à son errance. Pour la retrouver, il entreprend un voyage dont les bifurcations le ramènent au secret de son passé.

Kerry Hudson is proudly working class but she was never proudly poor. The poverty she grew up in was all-encompassing, grinding and often dehumanising. Always on the move with her single mother, Kerry attended nine primary schools and five secondaries, living in B&Bs and council flats. She scores eight out of ten on the Adverse Childhood Experiences measure of childhood trauma. Twenty years later, Kerry’s life is unrecognisable. She’s a prize-winning novelist who has travelled the world. She has a secure home, a loving partner and access to art, music, film and books..

Part social reportage, part socialist polemic, The Road to Wigan Pier sets out a hellish vision of a broken Britain before delivering a meditation on how we can create a more egalitarian society. Having travelled to the industrial north of England on assignment from his editor, Orwell's confronting, stark descriptions of the social injustice, cramped slum housing, squalor, hunger and growing unemployment he encounters are written with unblinking honesty, anger and humanity.

In prose that sparkles with humour and warmth, Yates charts the heartbreaks and joys of a life spent navigating the chaos of the housing system. She exposes the issues underpinning the crisis, from the state’s neglect of social housing to the rental rat race, and the disproportionate toll these take on the most marginalized in society. Drawing on interviews with tenants across the country and the stories behind our interiors, she explores the unexpected ways we can fight back.