Homelessness is an issue familiar to many Americans. Whether it be through their daily commute or the news, every citizen has an idea in their mind of what homelessness is and what it looks like.

Unfortunately, the myriad definitions, perspectives, and ideas sometimes lead to the creation of unfair stigmas. These stigmas, in turn, distract from the root causes of the issue, allowing it to continue and worsen.

Such stigmas often revolve around individual circumstance. In fact, the origins of the issue are in poverty, income inequality, housing affordability, social exclusion, and more.

In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It by Dr. Marybeth Shinn and Dr. Jill Khadduri utilizes groundbreaking research and data to identify these truths. In turn, the authors make the case that homelessness is solvable right now. However, we must allocate the necessary resources to doing so.

The Authors

Dr. Marybeth Shinn, PhD, is a Cornelius Vanderbilt professor at Vanderbilt University. In her career, she has co-led, developed, and evaluated various studies utilized to end homelessness.

Dr. Jill Khadduri, PhD, is a principal associate at Abt Associates, an organization that conducts research on efforts across the U.S. to improve the lives of vulnerable people. Dr. Khadduri has likewise been a senior member of many research teams studying policies to address homelessness.

She has also been co-principal investigator for the Annual Homeless Assessment Report since 2007. In addition, she is also a member of the Research Council of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

In the Midst of Plenty

Early on in the book, the authors make the meaning behind their title clear. The United States is among the richest nations in the world. However, despite our nation’s vast wealth, an exorbitant number of our citizens experience homelessness.

This paints the issue in an empathic light and is the first of many moments that the book asks us to shift how we understand it.

For example, Shinn and Khadduri consistently point to the part, failed social policies have played in causing homelessness. Yes, individual circumstances like mental illness, domestic abuse, and poverty are significant risk factors. However, “they are only risk factors for homelessness because of societal arrangements.”

“Why should the penalty for mental illness be homelessness?”

In addition, the authors also make a point to distinguish unsheltered and sheltered homelessness. People that fall into one group have different needs, risk factors, and face different challenges than those in the other. Understanding these distinctions can potentially lead to multiple avenues of intervention. All of which can prevent a person from becoming homeless in the first place.

Of course, these are only fragments of a much larger argument.

Four Main Questions

The authors continue to frame their findings and claims throughout the rest of the book around four questions:

1. Who becomes homeless?
2. Why do people become homeless?
3. How do we end homelessness?
4. How do we prevent it?

In each chapter, the authors answer these questions with data that pulls from history, field research, study reviews, legislation, and more.

For example, the book examines American programs that effectively halved homelessness among veterans and how we can apply the same model to the rest of the population. Additionally, the authors review the ‘Finnish Model’ that has effectively eliminated homelessness in Finland.

These arguments and the ones that follow are each sound, logical, and convincing.

Don’t Look the Other Way

At its core, In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It tells us all that homelessness is a choice. However, it is “not a choice by people sleeping on the streets but a choice by the rest of us to look the other way.”

For those interested in advocacy and social justice, this is essential reading. What is more, the information provided has the potential for real world application. So, local community leaders and federal legislators should take note as well.

As a non-profit committed to ending homelessness, we fully endorse this book and recommend it to all.

A Conversation with Co-Author, Dr. Jill Khadduri

We held a discussion with co-author Dr. Jill Khadduri on Thursday, November 10^th. Additonally, Dr. Khadduri answered questions from an esteemed panel of experts as well as those in attendance. Click here to watch.