Who Is My Neighbor? : Communicating and Organizing to End Homelessness

Who Is My Neighbor? is a compelling account of the author's ten-year journey as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center, a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. A retired Professor of Communication, Phil Tompkins marshals his considerable experience as a participant observer in recording the voices of the guests of the shelter as they teach us about their situation. We learn about their hopes for regaining a home and their fears as they are victimized-in some cases even murdered. Tompkins shows how effective communication and organization can contribute to finding an end to homelessness and establishing a movement toward protective action, especially when a proactive local government gets involved. In addition to giving voice to homeless people, Who Is My Neighbor? explores Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's ambitious Commission to End Homelessness. This remarkable social experiment, now called Denver's Road Home, is two years into implementing an innovative plan for ending homelessness. It provides a model for other cities nationwide where persistent homelessness has defied resolution. Down And Out And On The Road -- Christmas In The St. Francis Center : Entry, Socialization, Assimilation -- The History Of Homelessness : America And Denver -- Mother Teresa, Liminality, And Abeyance -- Seasons, Cycles, And Relative Deprivation -- Police Harassment And Degrees Of Being -- The Social Construction Of Killers By Means Of Communication -- The Visible Hand Of Compassion -- An Existential Look At Homelessness -- A Crisis Meeting At The Shelter -- The Collective Discipline Of Compassion -- Charity Versus Justice -- The Faces Of Homelessness -- Denver's Road Home. Phillip K. Tompkins. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 200-206) And Index. Down and out and on the road Christmas in St. Francis Center : entry, socialization, and assimilation The history of homelessness : America and Denver Mother Teresa, liminality, and abeyance Seasons, cycles, and relative deprivation Police harassment and degrees of being The social construction of killers by means of communication The visible hand of compassion An existential look at homelessness A crisis meeting at the shelter The collective discipline of compassion Charity versus justice The faces of homelessness Denver's road hom.