Homeless Women

‘You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take’: On Sustaining Social Change From the Bottom Up

Mainstream media, conservatives and politicians want people to believe that the poor will always be with us. But it’s a lie.

In You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty, Presbyterian minister and long-time anti-poverty organizer Liz Theoharis and writer-organizer Noam Sandweiss-Back deconstruct this fallacy and present dozens of examples of organizing by poor people to win affordable housing, accessible healthcare, high-quality public education, a living wage, nutritious food and most importantly, dignity.

The Next President Will Decide Domestic Violence Policy for Millions of Survivors

Survivor Justice Action, alongside survivors and allies across the country, is taking the conversation about domestic violence beyond individual homes, ensuring it’s heard loudly throughout the halls of Congress.

We refuse to settle for a world that enables, perpetuates and ignores the root causes of domestic violence. We will always make survivors voices a priority, and we won’t stop until domestic violence ends.

Mothers Without Homes: Tips on Raising Children While Living on the Streets

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that punishing homeless people for sleeping on public property does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, reality for those experiencing homelessness got much tougher.

In an effort to highlight a significant and unrecognized segment of America’s homeless population, a survival guide for mothers raising their children without a home: The Three Melissas: A Practical Guide to Surviving Family Homelessness

Nowhere to Turn: Survivors are Unsafe at Home and Criminalized on the Streets

As domestic violence and housing costs skyrocket, the Supreme Court’s answer to the crisis of homelessness is more cruelty.

Now, it’s up to state and local governments to invest in proven strategies that help end abuse and homelessness, such as broad investments in affordable housing and targeted investments in survivor-specific housing programs. Survivors can’t wait any longer for the safe, affordable housing they need.

The Cost of Being Myself: Cosmetics and Gender-Affirming Care

For Alice, a young transgender woman, navigating out of homelessness, a $40 bottle of foundation is lifesaving. She regularly purchases it, despite the steep price, because it’s the only product that properly covers the shadow of her facial hair. Doing so ensures that she is not identified and targeted as trans in public.

From physical safety to job security, how your present yourself to the world is critical. To transgender and other LGBTQ+ youth—in particular those that are unhoused, at risk or street involved—beauty products like makeup or haircare are neither optional nor frivolous expenses.

A Story of the Unhoused: The Ms. Q&A with Author Roxanne Chester

How should you talk about unhoused people with children? Read them This is My Bag.

The children’s picture book 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 author, Roxanne Chester, spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader in late December, several weeks after the book was released.

Affordable Housing as a Human Right: Activist Diane Yentel on the U.S. Housing Crisis, Racial Justice and Democracy

Right now, low-income renters are facing rising inflation, skyrocketing rents, limited tenant protections and a shortage of affordable units. Predictably, this is leading to an increasing number of evictions and a spike in homelessness.

Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, sees housing and racial justice as inextricably linked. “We must ensure that low-income people can participate in democracy by removing the barriers to voting that make it difficult to cast a ballot.”