Reimagining Homelessness: Relational Poverty and Building Community

This is an article I wrote for a street newspaper, Toledo Streets, in 2020.

After interviewing Rooster Tinch — a formerly homeless resident of Toledo, Ohio, who went from enthusiastic street vendor to stably-housed head chef of a local restaurant — I was inspired to tell a broader story of how relationships and social capital can make or break a person’s housing prospects. The result was this article.

“Committing to relationship-building in our work to end homelessness is often less a matter of material resources and more a matter of shifting the collective mindset about the issue and the people behind it. If we envision ourselves as part of a supportive community, we can create that community”

“Forging connections with unhoused community members helps us understand the challenges of homelessness in more concrete terms; investment in personal relationships ties collective action (or inaction) to real people’s lives; and stories of struggle and resilience often contradict our preconceptions about a diverse and complex group of people working towards a better life.”