There's No Place Like Home

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-10-07 22:53:00 UTC
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This morning you probably climbed out of your warm bed (unwillingly), shuffled into the shower or the kitchen to make coffee. Tonight, after a hectic Wednesday, that warm bed will be there waiting for you.

It's so simple, this routine. So basic. We think nothing of it.

But right now, as you read this, thousands of people across the U.S. don't know where they're going to sleep tonight. Men. Women. Children. Two-parent families. Elderly people. Single parents with kids. Teenagers. Veterans. Homeowners facing foreclosure. Evicted tenants.

It's difficult and uncomfortable to think about these people's tragic stories. This morning I read about a single mother with two young children. She came home from doing errands to find an eviction notice on her apartment door... due to foreclosure. She had no choice but to swallow her pride and move, with her children, into a homeless shelter. These are decisions and circumstances nobody should ever have to experience.

For several years, I have worked at homeless service organizations in Durham, North Carolina and currently in Somerville, Massachusetts. I'm also a full-time graduate student at Tufts University where I study housing and social welfare policy.

As your homelessness guide for change.org, I'm honored and excited about the opportunity to delve into the issue of homelessness with you. Given the severity of our current housing crisis-turned-financial disaster, there is quite a lot to learn, discuss, and act on... so check back here often!

Again - welcome to the new change.org!

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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