Customer Reviews

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the product of six years of research and work with homeless rural children and families. But while Vissing does her homework and musters the facts, the book goes beyond the statistics. This is not a scientific study of a problem -- this is a person talking about people.

The book is full of photos: of children hungry; children playing; a pregnant young woman on a park bench; a mother in a homeless shelter cradling two toddlers close to her, with a determined look on her face; a teenage girl nodding off to sleep at a coffeeshop table with dawn lightening the window. Fourteen University of New Hampshire photography students worked with homeless children and families for six months in 1991. The results are incorporated into this book. Also available is a twenty minute, award-winning, videotape, "I Want to Go Home"

Just as the book goes beyond the statistics to show human beings suffering, it goes beyond the suffering to show solutions. Vissing spoke, in her initial study, with about three hundred people from school and community groups about programs to help the homeless. The first results were discouraging; for example, "Almost none of the communities had special summer programs for homeless children. I became convinced that 'homelessness' was not a term that most agencies used when serving children." But by the end of the book, Vissing has a program for rural communities to "'take the bull by the horns' and rely upon themselves to address the causes and consequences of homelessness." In the back of the book is a lengthy personal story -- fourteen pages -- of a child who grew up in poverty, abuse, violence and a rootless existence. Her story is searing and heartbreaking. But it has a very short postscript. ".. employed full-time and planned to attend college the following fall. Each member of the family seemed emotionally, financially, and socially secure, because of their own determination and because they had found help when they needed it."

This book vividly illustrates how our families and our communities have been shattered. It also vividly illustrates how they can be mended.

The main idea of the book is to explain the extent of homeless children and their families in the U.S. Although this book was written in 1996, the information that is in the book is still relevant today. Vissing discuses eye-popping statics that really make the reader wonder why they were not aware of this problem before they read the book. After the author provides the statistics, she follows up with a story of something she has seen or investigated or researched. Having a story that follows the shocking statistics helps to make the statistics even more realistic than before. Another good part of the book that makes it more interesting to read is the insertion of photographs of the homeless children and families in America. Vissing did a very good job by using different tactics to get her point across in her book.
All in all, the book was very well written and very easy to read. All the supporting facts that Vissing provided the reader with really helped make the book as exceptional as it was. One downside to the book is that the author incorporated so many statistics into the story that at times, it seemed to be repetitive and boring. Even with that said it was still an extraordinary book that really influenced me to make a difference and change the way I live. After reading this book, I decided to do a service project that involves working with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for homeless people. This book is definitely a book that is a worth reading and can really change your perspective on life.