the girl's guide to homelessness

by brianna karp



karp is homeless.
it was not expected.
she had a secure job
and it paid well
she had a cute character home
and a dog
and even a horse

it all came crashing down when the recession hit
and suddenly
karp had no address.

she was homeless.

karp takes you on a journey
by which she lives in a walmart parking lot
showers at the gym
searches for jobs on her laptop (yes, homeless people can have laptops)
and struggles to dismantle stereotypes of homeless individuals

she beautifully portrays the struggle that so many people undertook when the recession hit
and she does it while being aware of her location.
what i mean by this is that
she is aware she is white
and that puts her at an advantage
she is aware that she inherited a trailer
and that puts her at an advantage.

her location and her awareness of that location
becomes so prominent in her story
as she undergoes attack by the blogging world
for being racist and ungrateful of her white privilege.


i was drawn in.
almost instantly.
for so many reasons.

here are a few more:

1. karp comes from a lineage of jehovah's witnesses
and she speaks to her experiences
as a woman in this particular sect of religion
and how she feels this religion affected her relationship with her family

2. karp's family is nearly unbelievable*
in the non-compliment sort of way
her mom was incredibly abusive
her father was a pedophile that molested her at the tender age of 2
and then he later shot himself
her sister, who managed to side step all the abuse directed at karp,
watched from a corner
as her mom attacked her sister
and never spoke a peep - you can not even blame her.
she was so young.
and so very scared.


* please note - i am not making some sort of unfounded argument
that their chosen religion automatically makes them unstable and prone to such abusive behaviour.
i am only relaying the information that karp presents and how she feels it was all intertwined.


3. karp is homeless
and she does a beautiful job of
breaking down stigmas and stereotypes
that often plague homeless people
and she does it with such grace
and eloquence
and sophistication
that you simply cannot stop reading.

4. karp's romance with matt
a fellow blogger and homeless advocate
is endearing
yet alarming.
i sensed their was a problem stirring.
and by golly, was i right.

her language is blunt
it practically jumps off the page
and knocks on your heart
unabashedly.
her dialogue is stunning
and her honesty moved me.
this is a must-read.

it will show you
that homelessness is everywhere
in all kinds of forms
and challenges all of our preconceived notions.