“It’s sweeter where the bruise is”: making sense of the experience of family homelessness in a community–campus partnership

Abstract

Individual and family stories of homelessness that focus on the transition out of homelessness remain comparatively unexplored. Using hermeneutic inquiry and microstoria analysis to orient the inquiry and design the narrative, this case study involves the story of a woman overcoming homelessness with her family, and her participation in, and contribution to, a community–campus partnership during this period of time. “Delilah” describes aspects of the day-to-day experience of her transition to permanent housing as well as her understanding of “expert-driven” vs. collaboratively designed programming within community–campus partnerships. The author reflects on her relationship with this brilliant person and the complexity of participating in a respectful relationship with her, and outlines some policy recommendations for families facing similar circumstances. She posits that by appropriately partnering with grassroots individuals with deep knowledge of homelessness and other social conditions, education institutions participate in enriching communities and help improve practice to ameliorate social problems.

Keywords:

• family homelessness
• community–campus partnerships
• hermeneutic inquiry
• overcoming homelessness
• case study

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the community partners of the Ontario Community University Partnership, and Drs. Lourdes Arguelles, professor emerita at Claremont Graduate University, and Sharon Snowiss of Pitzer College for their participation in and support for this research effort.

Notes

1. The city of Ontario is located about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, California. According to the 2010 US Census, it is estimated to include 173,000 people – 59.9% Latino and 47.9% white.

2. It is estimated that one in three people who qualify for food stamps do not register for them (Food Research and Action Center, 2008).

3. The resource directory and a description of the structure of this community–campus partnership are described in Sandy and Arguelles (2005).

4. The Physical and Emotional Awareness for Children Who Are Homeless (PEACH) curriculum of the National Center on Family Homelessness is a helpful resource. Retrieved from http://www.familyhomelessness.org/peachfaq.