"There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America" Discussion Questions

This summer, our team read through and discussed Brian Goldstone's book There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. As we read, we compiled a list of discussion questions for each chapter. We hope they can serve as a helpful study guide if you choose to pick up the book yourself and engage in a conversation about housing and homelessness with your friends, families, or coworkers.

Introduction

1. What are some reasons the author gives for homelessness among working Americans?

Chapter 1

1. Why did Britt put her hope in the Housing Choice Voucher? Is she likely to receive one?

Chapter 2

1. What is the role of a person’s support system during a crisis? How important is it to have one?

Chapter 3

1. This chapter included the line, “They were conscious of the irony that Maurice services cars for a living but couldn’t afford to buy one himself.” How common do you think this is? What are some other examples of services the workers themselves might not be able to afford?

2. How much of an impact does segregation have on the current housing landscape?

Chapter 4

1. How prevalent of a cause is domestic violence for someone experiencing homelessness or housing instability?

Chapter 5

1. This chapter included the line, “Celeste was forced to choose between searching for a new home or continuing to earn a paycheck.” How can someone make this impossible decision?

2. How often are people reluctant to ask for help because they don’t want the label of “homeless”?

Chapter 6

1. Why/how is rent exceeding wage increase?

2. Reflect on your support system. Are there people you could turn to if you needed support? Have you helped anyone in your network when they were in need?

3. What is the impact of the Olympics on low-income individuals living in the host city?

4. Before reading this chapter, had you considered the burden of constantly losing belongings when having to move from place to place?

5. Why do so many vouchers expire without being used? Consider the stories that you’ve read so far, did you expect it to be so difficult to find affordable housing?

Chapter 7

1. How do you keep hope in a tough situation? What is the balance between dreaming for more and being realistic?

2. This chapter shows Kara reaching a breaking point and looking into housing services. Why do you think it took her so long to research these?

Chapter 8

1. Why is relying on emergency services for care not an ideal situation?

2. What are some predatory landlord practices you have read about in this book so far?

3. How much do you think pride and dignity play a role in asking for help?

4. What supports are there for people who don’t fit HUD’s definition of literally homeless?

Chapter 9

1. There is a common theme of parents pretending to be happy for the sake of their kids. Why do you think this is?

2. Why are there not limits on the fees landlords can place on applications?

Chapter 10

1. In contrast to the previous chapter, this chapter ends with the kids not being shielded from the situation. How does this impact them?

Chapter 11

1. How does the trend of investment companies buying homes and flipping them affect the people living there? Would you consider this a predatory practice?

2. How is gentrification a political, social, and economic issue?

Chapter 12

1. This chapter talked about automated evictions after one missed rent payment. Why is taking the human element out of housing so hurtful and dangerous?

2. Why are there so many fees for missed payments? How does this perpetuate a cycle of cost burden?

Chapter 13

1. Would you agree that desperation forces you to get creative?

2. What contributes to states underfunding TANF?

3. How much does nutrition suffer when individuals are experiencing homelessness? How does eating an irregular, unbalanced diet affect the development of children?

4. How common is the inability to afford childcare a factor in the ability to work?

Chapter 14

1. How did you manage the stressors of COVID when it first started?

2. What additional burden did people experiencing homelessness take on during COVID that other people might not have dealt with?

3. Can you think of a time you were reluctant to accept support when you needed it?

Chapter 15

1. What do you think about the assumption that unhoused people don’t care about their appearance and need to be grateful for what others gave them?

2. How does thinking of homelessness as a spectrum change your perception of homelessness?

Chapter 16

1. How does the pressure to assist family members in a crisis put someone’s own stability at risk?

       Chapter 17

1. In this chapter Kara saw other families in the hotel receiving assistance. It talked about “her instinctive sense that there that there weren’t enough resources to go around…” How common do you think this competitive mentality is between people accessing resources?

2. How do you think Grace feels when her mother says, “Isn’t this the best birthday present?” after receiving a message about getting into a rental assistance program?

Chapter 18

1. Do you agree with Maurice when he says, “there is always going to be people who had to stay poor in order to make others rich.” Is that still true today?

Chapter 19

1. In this chapter, the author described the desire to have a housing navigator to assist clients in finding units for rent. Kara gave up hours she could have been working to do this search herself. Why is funding for administrative positions (like a housing navigator) hard for agencies to find?

2. How can someone look out for scams while also remaining optimistic about finding adequate housing?

Chapter 20

1. Over the last few chapters, we’ve read about Kara’s mounting stress and deteriorating ability to contain her frustration. How can someone manage their emotions when under such constant stress?

2. After setback after setback, how can it feel like the systems and people who are meant to support you are actually working against you?

Chapter 21

1. When visiting DC, Maurice and Natalia don’t share their struggles with housing with their family. Why do you think that is?

2. Why are businesses investing in extended stay hotels instead of affordable housing?

Chapter 22

1. This chapter describes tenants being evicted from their extended stay rooms. How might the situation have unfolded differently without the HJL, County Commissioner, and police lieutenant on scene? Was the resolution ultimately favorable or not?

Chapter 23

1. This chapter shared, “In Atlanta, the average rent for a basic one-bedroom unit was now equivalent to 174 percent of the maximum SSI payment of $943. Nationally, the situation was just as bad: there was not a single city or county in America where someone with a disability who received SSI could afford an apartment without other forms of assistance.” What is SSI and is it effective for those who receive it?

2. There was a loophole that allowed affordable housing to be redeveloped without the same restrictions. How or why do you think this loophole got through without it being caught earlier?

Chapter 24

1. Why are people hesitant to join advocacy efforts or see themselves as activists?

2. Why did tenants’ rights movements grow in number during COVID?

3. Why is it hard to keep momentum going for movements like those fighting for tenant rights?

Chapter 25

1. DJ describes feeling like a single parent. Why was the burden of caring for his younger sister pushed onto him?

Chapter 26

1. This chapter describes Celeste and her family moving into a rooming house. Shortly after moving in, Celeste becomes the house manager. Do you think it is reasonable for a resident in this situation to have to manage the house and work towards their own housing stability at the same time?

2. Both Celeste and her daughter Nyah are described as doing very little other than being in their rooms and working. How does this impact someone’s health to not have the time or energy for anything else?

Chapter 27

1. Natalia and Marcus have dreams of becoming homeowners and learn more about their options. They know a mortgage would likely be cheaper than their rent. How can this be?

Chapter 28

1. Michelle struggles with alcoholism and it affects her romantic and familial relationships. Her children doubt the stories she is telling them are true. How are relationships deteriorated as housing problems and coping mechanisms persist?

Chapter 29

1. This chapter starts by describing Britt’s car being towed. The purchase of car cost $12,834.48 but by the time it was paid off with interest it would cost her $23,698.80. She was being charged almost four times the interest paid by used-car borrowers with stronger credit. How do practices like this keep people with poor credit in a cycle of bad financial options and choices?

2. The chapter ends with Britt seeing her old apartment building razed and the plans for the new condos and townhomes to be built in its place. She says, “Wow, this will be really nice when it’s done, but me and my kids? There’s no place for us here.” How must that have felt for her? How would you feel in that situation?

Chapter 30

1. Kara makes a choice that she describes as “slightly less bad.” Have you ever been in a situation like that where you had to choose between two bad options?

2. Kara begins to receive increasingly large electric bills and is stuck between the power company and apartment complex without a clear path forward to resolve the problem. Many of her neighbors tell her they have experienced the same thing. How can the burden of fixing this problem be resolved when neither company will take ownership of it? Is it reasonable that Kara must be the one to find a resolution?

Epilogue

1. The epilogue dives into a blind spot in the Point in Time (PIT) Count: those doubled up or not experiencing “literal” homelessness by HUD’s definition. How does this distort the problem?