For my church book club, the last pick of the year (we don’t discuss in a book in December, we hold a holiday party instead) was a book called Down and Out in Providence by Geralyn Wolf, who is the Bishop of Rhode Island for the Episcopal Church. In January 2003, Wolf lived as a homeless person in Providence, Rhode Island, living in city shelters, trying in vain to get both work and a library card, and visiting area churches, partly for the food and spiritual sustenance they offered, and partly to see how they received someone like her. In the book, which is comprised of journal-like entries, Wolf shares her experiences and offers glimpses into the lives of those she encountered during those 30 days.

Three books that I recommended to my group as further reading are Nickel and Dimed, Stuart: A Life Backwards and The Glass Castle. All of these books provider the reader with fascinating and troubling stories of the working poor, homeless, and their families.