Compared to food and shelter, books may seem to be a comparatively low priority. But thanks to book clubs around the country, those without stable housing have the chance to start a new chapter, escaping into a book and bonding over something other than the circumstances that brought them to the streets.
The first of these clubs grew out of a friendship between attorney Peter Resnik and Rob Day, who was then a homeless veteran Resnik met in Boston Common. They started the Boston Book Club in 2008 along with Ron Tibbetts, head of the nonprofit Oasis Coalition, and watched as the concept caught on elsewhere. According to Tibbetts, there were at one point 26 similar book clubs around the world, including locations in London, Barcelona and Paris. “I never thought that it would become a kind of phenomenon,” he says.
Part of the appeal to participants is the respite the club provides. “It’s an hour and a half or two hours away from their situation,” Tibbetts says. “I’ve had folks that will come and participate and they’re so comfortable that they fall asleep. If you feel safe enough to sleep and you need to sleep, it’s wonderful that we can provide that.”
Other members come for the sense of community or the opportunity for self-expression. “Being heard is so uncommon and rare for them,” Tibbetts says. “They’re in a place where they can share concepts and ideas. It’s an opportunity to refine how they communicate.”
Like many book clubs, the Boston club has a handful of regulars who attend meetings every Tuesday morning, while others drop in or out over the years. But at Renewal Place, a two-year transitional housing program for chemically addicted women and their children, the members are more consistent from week to week due to the nature of the housing program.
Since the club started in May 2010, founder Laurie MacGillivray, a literacy professor at the University of Memphis, says it’s given the women a new way to connect with their families and each other. “[When you’re in rehab], the only thing you share with the other families is that you’ve been an addict,” she explains. “This offers a whole different range of topics they can talk about that are positive.”
One woman was having issues with her son, but after he read “The Hunger Games,” they could talk about the book and use it to bridge the divide between them, according to MacGillivray. “Two of the women said ‘we don’t like each other but when we come to book club, we see the best in each other,'” she adds. Continued.