Tag: homeless

Children of Eve : The Shocking Story of America’s Homeless Kids, by Kevin Casey

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Children of Eve (Covenant House program of public awareness)Finished 7-5-09, rating 4/5, nonfiction, published 1991

This book charts the fallout from our shifting culture as seen throught the eyes of our counselors on the front lines of this struggle.  These are caring adults who try day and night to reach these kids, to re-connect them to society, to healthy lives, to the love of God.

The founder of my religious order, St. Vincent de Paul, taught us that before we can teach the poor about God we must first take care of their bodily needs.  At Covenant House, we can’t tell a kid God loves her if she’s dirty, cold, hungry, and sick.

Words like love don’t work on our kids.  We are challenged as Christians to show our kids we love them, not tell them.

from the introduction written by Sister Mary Rose McGeady

I do not know I came to have this book.  It is Book 2 in the Covenant House Program of PublicAwareness, which I am in no way familiar with.  But somewhere over the years this slight book (only 116 pages) made its way into my house.  I don’t think it’s easily acquired, so after reading my review if you would like me to send it to you free of charge, leave a comment telling me you’d like to read it.  If there is more than one person interested, I will draw a name on Friday, July 10th.

Instead of telling you about Covenant House I encourage you to visit the website. 

The book is written by a man who drives the van around all night long to feed, talk, listen to the homeless kids that are on our streets.  He is there to offer them a way out, but most accept the food and friendship, but reject the help.  The book contains short stories of how the kids arrived on the streets of LA (although Covenant House is in many other cities) and they are often shocking and always heartbreaking.  Casey has the greatest respect for these kids and you will gain the greatest respect for Casey and the others that do the hard work at Covenant House.

The last chapter is written by a worker in the New York Covenant House and what a life altering decision it is.  They agree to live on the premises and pray 3 hours a day for 13 months.  Talk about a commitment!

Although this book is 18 years old, Covenant House is still going strong and there are still kids on our streets, stuck with no easy way out.  This book was eye-opening and it introduced me to Covenant House and I am so glad that it snuck its way into my TBR pile!  Let me know if you’d like my copy.

Finding Grace: The Face of America’s Homeless, photographer Lynn Blodgett

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The Face of America's HomelessFinished 9-26-08, rating 3/5, photography, pub. 2007

This is a coffee table book with a social conscience attached.  Blodgett went around the country to a dozen different cities and visited homeless shelters so he could photograph the people who used them to survive.  The photographs are all in black and white and he lets the photos alone tell the story.  I felt that he could have included more details about the people.  The photographs compelled me to want to know more, which may be the point, but it was a little unsatisfying.

The forward had some interesting statistics about the homeless (I wish I could include them, but I’ve lost the paper I wrote them down on) and it was heartbreaking to read how many are children, families, and women escaping abusive relationships.

I think this book is perfectly timed.  With the current forclosure rates and the state of our ecnomy as a whole, I think only more of our fellow citizens will be joining the plight of the homeless. 

This is not a book to lift your spirits or rattle of numbers and stories about the homeless.  This is a book to look into the faces of the forgotten, to appreciate what you have, and then to question how you might be able to help those people who need it.

This would probably be a great gift for photographers.