Analysis of Community Member Interviews

The second part of this document, Section Two: Insider Perspectives, provides the reader with an overview of the general themes and personal views that were elicited through focus groups and one-on-one interviews with people who were currently experiencing homelessness. For the purposes of this section, homelessness was defined as a state of being in which an individual has no permanent address. The people whose views are expressed in the following pages were currently living in shelters, in substance abuse residential treatment programs for the homeless, on the streets, in the woods, or in abandoned buildings or vehicles. It should be noted that, despite creative efforts on the part of the researchers, it was generally very challenging to convince homeless community members to participate in focus groups and interviews. Of the names provided to the students as potential interviewees, many people either declined or did not show up at the agreed-upon time and place. Although the students had hoped to obtain more input from people experiencing homelessness, they did succeed in incorporating forty (40) community member voices into this document through formal focus groups or interviews. In addition, this document does include information that was gathered informally from the homeless through talks with community members during volunteer activities, eating meals at the community kitchen, and religious services.

Due to the stigmatized nature of the word "homeless," this section of the document will hereafter use the term "community members" to refer to those experiencing homelessness.

Discussion

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Identities Related to Homelessness