Sisters Of The Road  is a non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon, that supports community driven solutions to the calamities of homelessness and poverty in an atmosphere of nonviolence and gentle personalism. 

Since 1979, Sisters has believed that in order to end homelessness, it is imperative to listen to the experts – the people with experience of homelessness and poverty. 

In 2001, Sisters conducted a research study to amplify the voices of people experiencing homelessness.  Sisters completed 600 one-to-one interviews  asking people about their experiences.  After being transcribed and coded, using over hundreds categories and themes, 515 of the interviews are now accessible to the public and usable for analysis.

Sisters wants to give everyone free access to these expert voices on homelessness to help inform their programs, studies, programs and/or work - including the interested public, policy makers, advocacy groups, public bureaus, neighborhood groups, students, teachers and business owners. All you need to do is register for a free account on the registration page to access the data.

Another way to access excerpts from the interview data, is through Sisters’ book published in May 2007 called  “Voices from the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters Of The Road" by Jessica P. Morrell.

Here is a small selection of topics there is data on: Contributors to homelessness, Health, Employment, Income, Expenses, Housing, Services, Food, Sleep, Transportation, Solutions to homelessness