TDRC - Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out

Cathy Crowe always wanted to be a nurse but she never planned to be a street nurse—a title she continues to use to evoke the horror of homelessness in a rich country like Canada. In Dying for a Home Crowe brings us the voices of ten homeless activists advocating for change. The word homeless conjures many stereotypes, but rarely does it suggest bravery, courage, charisma, or intelligence, qualities demonstrated by each of these determined individuals.The contents of Crowe's nursing bag reveal the hard truth of her specialty. Her vitamins will not prevent the white plague of tuberculosis from taking another life. The duct tape to fix a cardboard shelter, or the bus ticket to get an elderly man to a hot air grate, will not ensure a peaceful night of safety and sleep. Crowe’s experience has taught her that the only thing homeless people have in common is being de-housed and forced to live in conditions of poverty. It is this first-hand experience with the disgrace of homelessness that turned her into a housing advocate and introduced her to the ten contributors to Dying for a Home.Cathy Crowe has been a street nurse in downtown Toronto and has worked on issues of homelessness for over seventeen years. She co-founded the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC), which in 1998 declared homelessness a national disaster.[abstract]

Publication Date: 
2007
Volume: 
2007
Issue: 
25/10/2007