Daphne,

A number of years ago I had a woman staying with me who worked at a  
homeless shelter.  We discussed the mental health of those living on  
the street, or in shelters, and  her assessment:  "If they aren't "  
sick" before they get on the streets, they soon will be."  I would like  
to know more about this and more about literacy for these women, and  
what might be the best way to help out..

One woman who later became head of a volunteer group lived for most of  
one year camped out behind  a row of tombstones in an overlooked  
section of a  cemetery near me.  It can happen to anyone. She got help,  
then got on her feet, and then made it back into society.

Thanks.

Andrea.


On Mar 16, 2006, at 3:17 PM, Daphne Greenberg wrote:


> Do any of you knowingly work (past or present) with women who are  

> homeless?  Or have any of you been homeless?

>

> When I think of neglected groups in adult literacy, homeless women  

> often comes to mind. According to a professor at my university,  

> "homelessness should be considered a form of psychological trauma  

> that... may produce learned helplessness-the perceptions that control  

> over one's situation is external and that one's own actions will have  

> no influence." She continues to say that "homelessness represents  

> instability and vulnerability, particularly when you are a woman.  

> There aren't really shelters for women, so where do you go? You're in  

> a vulnerable situation to get your basic needs met. You may be  

> vulnerable to additional victimization-sexual victimization, coercion  

> and things like that" (Spring 2006, Georgia State Magazine, pg. 15).

>

> I wonder if any of you who have experience with homelessness or  

> working with women who are homeless and want to write to us about this  

> in relation to literacy work.

>

> Coincidentally, on the Poverty Listserv, I came across this posting  

> which also relates to homelessness and literacy:

>

> Homeless advocates are concerned that a new policy requiring a library  

> card to surf the web will prevent many homeless from using the  

> internet in the one place it is available to them. To obtain a library  

> card, applicants must

> provide an address, which effectively bars the homeless who live  

> outside of shelters.

>

> Gale Snible, a publicist for the New York Public Library (NYPL), said  

> a library card became mandatory for logging onto the internet at most  

> branches as part of a technology upgrade last year that permits users  

> to join a virtual

> waiting list, and limits the time a user can surf the web ...  

> Officials at the separately operated Brooklyn and Queens public  

> libraries say they plan to shift to a similar system ... [cont'd] <<

>

> http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/weeklyView.cfm? 

> articlenumber=1868

>

> Any thoughts/reactions?????

>

> Daphne

>

>

> Daphne Greenberg

> Assistant Professor

> Educational Psych. & Special Ed.

> Georgia State University

> P.O. Box 3979

> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979

> phone: 404-651-0127

> fax:404-651-4901

> dgreenberg at gsu.edu

>

> Daphne Greenberg

> Associate Director

> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy

> Georgia State University

> P.O. Box 3977

> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977

> phone: 404-651-0127

> fax:404-651-4901

> dgreenberg at gsu.edu

>

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