Rae Bridgman – författare

In this groundbreaking work, urban anthropologist Rae Bridgman, in careful and intimate detail, explores the perspectives of the women who work and live at Savard's, a unique shelter for homeless women. Bridgman uses the design and development of Savard's - a housing model developed by women for women - as an opportunity to document the project's original vision and what happened once it opened. There are few rules at Savard's. Women may come and go as they wish, and referrals to other services are made only when a woman has indicated interest in taking action on her own behalf. It is a model that aims to provide a safe haven for the chronically homeless.The study traces the evolution of this type of shelter, providing qualitative research and useful analysis for academics, policy-makers, service providers, and activists. Based on many hours of participant observation as well as interviews and staff records, Safe Haven presents a distinct picture of the chronically homeless and those on the frontlines of this lifesaving service.

As homelessness continues to plague North America and also becomes more widespread in Europe, anthropologists turn their attention to solving the puzzle of why people in some of the most advanced technological societies in the world are found huddled in a subway tunnel, squatting in a vacant building, living in a shelter, or camping out in an abandoned field or on a beach. Anthropologists have a long tradition of working in poverty subcultures and have been able to contribute answers to some of the puzzles of homelessness through their ability to enter the culture of the homeless without some of the preconceptions of other disciplines.The authors, anthropologists from the U.S.A. and Canada, offer us an analysis of homelessness that is grounded in anthropological research in North America and throughout the world. Both have in-depth experience through working in communities of the homeless and present us withthe results of their own work and with that of their colleagues.