How to Be Homeless

By By elizabeth Ryan 
Published on July 24, 2009
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For millions of Americans, the housing crisis began well before last year’s front-page collapse. Bigotry and criminalization by an unjust system of policing and incarceration, combined with economic privation, have kept even the meager privilege of a subprime mortgage or slumlord lease out of reach for many. As the crisis unfolds, the number of homeless will grow.</i>
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<p>That stark bit of analysis is courtesy of <b>The Nation</b>, whose recent monthly dispatch of “Ten Things” features crucial tips and guidelines from <a href=”http://www.picturethehomeless.org/” target=”_blank”>Picture the Homeless</a>, a grassroots social justice organization in New York that was founded by two homeless men in 1999. Should crisis hit your own backyard, the group has assembled “<a href=”http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090803/ten_things” target=”_blank”>Ten Things You Need to Know to Live on the Streets</a>,” which covers everything from negotiating public bathrooms to learning police patterns to adopting successful panhandling techniques. Here’s hoping you never need to use it.</p>
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<b>Source: <a href=”http://www.thenation.com/” target=”_blank”>The Nation</a>
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