Named a Gift Book for the Discerning New Yorker by The New York
Times In a metropolis like New York, homelessness can blend into
the urban landscape. For editor Susan Greenfield, however, New York
is the place where a community of resilient, remarkable individuals
are yearning for a voice. Sacred Shelter follows the lives of
thirteen formerly homeless people, all of whom have graduated from
the life skills empowerment program, an interfaith life skills
program for homeless and formerly homeless individuals in New York.
Through frank, honest interviews, these individuals share traumas
from their youth, their experience with homelessness, and the
healing they have discovered through community and faith. Edna
Humphrey talks about losing her grandparents, father, and sister to
illness, accident, and abuse. Lisa Sperber discusses her bipolar
disorder and her whiteness. Dennis Barton speaks about his
unconventional path to becoming a first-generation college student
and his journey to reconnect with his family. The memoirists share
stories about youth, family, jobs, and love. They describe their
experiences with racism, mental illness, sexual assault, and
domestic violence. Each of the thirteen storytellers honestly
expresses his or her brokenheartedness and how finding community
and faith gave them hope to carry on. Interspersed among these life
stories are reflections from program directors, clerics, mentors,
and volunteers who have worked with and in the life skills
empowerment program. In his reflection, George Horton shares his
deep gratitude for and solidarity with the 500-plus individuals he
has come to know since he co-founded the program in 1989. While
religion can be divisive, Horton firmly believes that all faiths
urge us to "welcome the stranger" and, as Pope Francis asks,
"accompany" them through the struggles of life. Through solidarity
and suffering, many formerly homeless individuals have found
renewed faith in God and community. Beyond trauma and strife,
Dorothy Day's suggestion that "All is grace" is personified in
these thirteen stories. Jeremy Kalmanofsky, rabbi at Ansche Chesed
Synagogue, says the program points toward a social fabric of
encounter and recognition between strangers, who overcome vast
differences to face one another, which in Hebrew is called Panim el
Panim. While Sacred Shelter does not tackle the socioeconomic
conditions and inequities that cause homelessness, it provides a
voice for a demographic group that continues to suffer from
systemic injustice and marginalization. In powerful, narrative
form, it expresses the resilience of individuals who have
experienced homelessness and the hope and community they have
found. By listening to their stories, we are urged to confront our
own woundedness and uncover our desire for human connection, a
sacred shelter on the other side of suffering.
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