Roxanne Chester wrote This is My Bag: A Story of the Unhoused after a conversation with a friend. The friend was returning home with her young daughter in her arms and found someone sleeping in her building’s entryway. Should she try to rouse her, she wondered? Or should she simply step over her en route to her home?
She was unsure how to talk to her child about the encounter. Would it be best to say nothing, she asked herself. If not, what words would stoke both compassion and understanding?
When Chester heard about her friend’s struggle to answer them, the dilemma struck an immediate chord.
The result is a children’s picture book titled This is My Bag. It looks at the day-to-day realities of diverse people—children and elderly, able-bodied and disabled and diverse in race—who are forced to carry their valuables with them because they lack a permanent residence.
The book is beautifully illustrated by Abraham Matias, and provides a stark introduction to the realities of being unhoused.
Chester spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader in late December, several weeks after the book was released.
Eleanor J. Bader: This is My Bag is intended for children between the ages of 5 to 8. How should adults talk to this age group about the unhoused?
Roxanne Chester: First and foremost, we need to be honest. Children can sniff out when we are evading an issue or ignoring a question. Worse, they may seek out and find answers that are incomplete or incorrect which is why we need to step in with the truth. One of my fears is that kids might also become apathetic to homelessness. If a parent does not seem to care enough to talk about it, why should the kid be concerned?
Answers have to be age-appropriate, of course, but the basics can still be covered: there is a shortage of housing that people with very little money can afford. Children can also understand substance use disorders and mental illness. The key is honesty and openness.
I have a 14-year-old daughter so conversations with her are more substantive. We have a relative who has experienced homelessness. He is also battling a substance use disorder. We talk about him in our home all the time.
I helped connect him to the IIlumination Foundation, a southern California group that works to break the cycle of homelessness. They got him needed medical care and he is now living in a motel, not on the streets. But he still lacks a stable, permanent home.
One of my fears is that kids might also become apathetic to homelessness. If a parent does not seem to care enough to talk about it, why should the kid be concerned?
Roxanne Chester
Bader: You’ve visited several elementary schools and libraries since the book’s release. How have kids responded to This is My Bag?
Chester: Kids are asking about what they see around them. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and so far, the kids I’ve spoken to have all been local.
In one school, a child asked about the tents she’s seen pitched near the highway on-ramp. It’s tricky since it’s likely that some of the kids in the classroom are currently experiencing homelessness or have been unhoused at some point. In my presentation, I always stress the need to be kind. I don’t want to alienate anyone. I want the kids to feel empowered. So far, none of the kids I’ve spoken to have disclosed that they do not have a place to live. This is likely because there is still a lot of shame around being unhoused. The kids have a lot of questions which I try to answer as clearly and openly as I can.
The basics can still be covered: There is a shortage of housing that people with very little money can afford. Children can also understand substance use disorders and mental illness. The key is honesty and openness.
Roxanne Chester
Bader: In addition to writing about the unhoused, you have volunteered with Project Homeless Connect in the Bay Area. Tell me about your work with The Project.
Chester: The Project has been around for about 20 years and provides services and goods to people experiencing homelessness. This can be pretty much anything from giving them a pair of reading glasses to referring them to a mental health clinic or subsidized housing. I volunteer in the cafe and also serve as a chaperone, connecting clients with the resource people who can link them to services.
Bader: You’re also a lawyer. How did your decades of legal work influence your decision to write a book about homelessness?
Chester: I worked for legal services in Chicago for nine years, 2005 to 2014, and provided support to unhoused people. Before this, as a public defender in Contra Costa County, Calif., I did criminal defense work, but the need for housing and other concrete support services was always present. I’ve now segued into a more creative path and am working full-time as a children’s book writer.
Bader: What are you currently working on?
Chester: My goal in my writing is to help people recognize our shared humanity and encourage radical empathy. If you can place yourself in someone else’s shoes, it changes you. This is My Bag asks readers what they would carry with them if they did not have stable housing to go to. What do they think they’d feel if they were unhoused? What might it be like to continually have to move from one place to another, especially when they need to rest? I also hope they’ll consider whether acts of kindness can bring someone rest and comfort.
Since completing This is My Bag, I’ve written other stories, all geared to kids ages five to eight. One has to do with adoption and establishing identity and is based on my life as an adoptee. Another is about celebrating skin color using color theory. A third is about dementia because I have people in my family who are showing signs of cognitive decline. The book includes a section about the power of music to help people with memory loss connect with the past. This particular story addresses losing a crucial element of a relationship with a grandparent or elder and is meant to empower kids to connect with the older people in their lives.
All of these stories are under submission and are with my agent from the Diverse Kids Lit Agency, so we’ll have to see what gets traction.
This is a political moment in which book banning is happening; it is really troubling. Kids need books about social issues, whether they’re LGBTQIA+ inclusive or about BIPOC people and communities. Kids need to be able to grab books that bring multiple perspectives into their worlds. I hope my writing will get out there and help with that.
My goal in my writing is to help people recognize our shared humanity and encourage radical empathy.
Roxanne Chester
Bader: Why have you chosen to write for such young children?
Chester: I love the 5- to 8-year-old age group because kids are so open and honest at these ages. There is an element of magic with little kids. For me, the question is how to distill important topics into something they can easily understand. Picture books, written as a 32-page story, seem like the perfect way to reach them.
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