What’s New:

• Access Voices of Homelessness: A Qualitative Database from Sisters Of The Road by clicking here. To learn more about the project, click here.
• The University of Washington has published an article based on Sisters’ research! Click here to download a 16-page PDF.
• Voices from the Street nominated for three prestigious awards.
• Sisters Awarded Largest Grant for Solutions to Homelessness
• Meet Research Project Coordinator Heather Fercho.

Check out these Products:

• Click here to download Sisters’ research manual, “Tell me some stories about your experience of homelessness.” A practical guide for replicating Sisters Of The Road’s research project.
• Click here to read Sisters’ Research Project Working Papers, documents produced by people in the community who have requested Sisters’ data (more about the data below).

About Our Project

Launched in 10/2001, Sisters’ Community Organizing Project completed 600 one-to-one interviews (two-plus hours each!) asking people who’ve experienced homelessness to describe that experience and suggest solutions to homelessness.  After being transcribed and coded using over 150 categories and themes, 515 of these interviews are usable for analysis. 

Voices from the Street

We are pleased to announce that Voices from the Street:  Truths about Homelessness from Sisters Of The Road by Jessica P. Morrell, Sisters’ book based on the research project, is published and is on sale now!  To read more about the book, click here.

Books are trade softcovers and cost $24.95.  You may be able to buy it at one of the locations listed below. Please note that because stock turns over frequently, it’s worth calling before you make the trip!

• Powell’s Books:  Downtown at 1005 W Burnside Portland, (503) 228-4651 specify downtown; in Beaverton at 8725 SW Cascade Ave, Beaverton, (503) 228-4651 specify Beaverton; and Powell’s online.
• St. Johns Booksellers at 8622 N. Lombard St. in St. Johns, (503) 283-0032
• Broadway Books at 1714 NE Broadway St. in Portland (503) 284-1726
• Reading Frenzy at 921 SW Oak St. ~ Portland, (503) 274-1449
• Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Highway, Portland; (503)246-0053
• Borders online;
• Amazon.com
  

You may also buy it at the following locations:

• At Sisters’ office at 618 NW Sixth Ave., 9am - 5pm, or by calling (503) 222-5694 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we will mail them to you; add $3 a book for postage and packaging.
• Sisters’ online store - click here and you will be routed to our Auctionpay.com online order page.
• Publisher Gray Sunshine, either online or at their office at 1825 SE 7th; (503) 232-0103

Booksellers can order the book:

• Through Ingrams Book Group
• Through Franklin, Beedle, and Associates directly by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by toll free phone at 1-800-322-2665
• Or by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Gray Sunshine

Book details: 7 3/8 X 9 • 352 pages• ISBN 0-9769261-6-4, Trade Softcover, $24.95 •

Thank-you for all your support to amplify the Voices of people experiencing homelessness!

Data - Available to YOU!

Since 2005, we have answered dozens of requests for our data, from: students, teachers, social service workers, faith groups, government employees, activists, reporters, and more.  We also use it internally in Sisters’ decision-making processes and community organizing.

You can now access the data yourself, in our database Voices of Homelessness: A Qualitative Database from Sisters Of The Road, by clicking here!

Or, to learn more about requesting data for use at your workplace or project, (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  To read the categories of data we have, click here.  You may also download the request form, sign it, and fax it to (503) 222-3028, attn: Heather, or mail it to Heather Fercho at 133 NW Sixth Ave, Portland OR 97209.  Be sure to write neatly and be descriptive about what you need.

Sisters Research Project Working Papers

Click here to see an exciting new page of documents produced by people in the community who have requested the data.

How-to Manual

We have just finished a new how-to-manual, “‘Tell me some stories about your experience of homelessness’: A practical guide for replicating Sisters Of The Road’s Research Project.”  Click here to download the manual; we will collect your name and email for tracking purposes but we will never share your personal information.  It was written by the Research Project’s leader and Sisters’ cofounder Genny Nelson, and co-authored by staff member Jamie Manuel and project consultant Judith Chambliss.

It describes how to replicate the project from the ground up, including: funding and budgeting; hiring and training personnel; technology, logistics and the interview process; coding and analyzing the data; and finally, using the interviews as a kernel to launch a people’s organization.

University of Washington

Other exciting publications are also in the works:  Lisa Hoffman PhD and Brian Coffey PhD from the University of Washington, Tacoma Urban Studies Department are currently working on a series of scholarly journal articles analyzing the data, extrapolating common themes and possible directions for systemic change, such as policy recommendations that will address the root causes of homelessness and poverty.  The first article, entitled “Dignity and Indignation: How People Experiencing Homelessness View Services and Providers” is under peer review now.

Click ‘read more’ below and scroll down to learn more about the research project.

Need for the Project

After nearly 25 years of demonstrating the success of Sisters Of The Road’s community organizing model, the City of Portland, Oregon turned to Sisters to develop a plan to identify and ultimately help solve the issues of homelessness and poverty in Portland. This project will not only document solutions to homelessness and poverty, it will provide a replicable model for other communities.

Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten states. “Homelessness is one of our community’s most vexing problems and is a national epidemic…With as much as we have done, we cannot solve the homeless problem simply with social services, as important as these services are. We now need to take the next step and involve the people whose lives are most affected by homelessness and ask them to provide guidance and leadership. That is what Sisters Of The Road Café is all about – reflecting the dignity within so that people can flourish and make changes.”

Sten further states, “Our initial response to the epidemic of homelessness has been to build shelters. Shelters are vitally important, especially when it’s cold and rainy. But a shelter doesn’t solve what caused the person to be homeless in the first place. The Community Organizing Project working in collaboration with existing services and programs will begin with the development of the actual solutions – and solutions may be individualized for each person and their individual needs.”

Impact of the Project

Ultimately every man, woman and child who lives on little or no income and those of us that live one or two paychecks away from homelessness benefit from the experiences documented in this project and the systemic change that will occur because of it. The immediate beneficiaries of this work will be policy makers and homeless service providers.  The information extrapolated from the interviews can be used to create innovative and long-term solutions but also to decide how resources get allocated for people who are homeless and what services get provided. 

Goals of the Project

1. Complete 600 one-to-one interviews, including transcription, coding, and analysis.
2. Create publications resulting from the interviews: o A “How To Replicate This Project” manual o Scholarly analysis of the research results o A book of photos and stories of individuals interviewed

Project Timeline

• October 2001 - January 2004: 600 one-to-one interviews completed.  Five-hundred and fifteen (515) are usable. All the Interviews are transcribed and coded. Coding takes 2-8 hours per interview.
• October 2004 – June 2006: Together with Lisa Mae Hoffman, Ph.D. and Brian Coffey, Ph.D. of the University of Washington in Tacoma Urban Studies program, Sisters begins to analyze and track the information collected, extrapolating common themes and possible directions for systemic change.
• January – April 2005:  The Photovoice Project gave cameras to men and women who are homeless and provided photos and quotes on their daily life for the research and the book.
• May 2007:  Voices from the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters Of The Road  is published.
• September 2007:“Tell me some stories about your experience of homelessness’: A practical guide for replicating Sisters Of The Road’s Research Project” is published online.
• Current: Lisa Hoffman and Brian Coffey are publishing their first journal article.

Project Staff and Qualifications

• Heather Fercho, Research Program Coordinator. Heather started at Sisters in April 2008. She brings with her 12 years of research experience, as a student at WSU in the area of Eating Disorders prevention and then as an employee at OHSU in the area of neurobehavioral toxicology. Heather holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Washington State University and a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Pacific University. She enjoys helping others help themselves in her psychotherapy practice. (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). 503-222-5694 ext. 40.
• Genny Nelson, Co-Founder of Sisters Of The Road. Genny has worked in the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood since 1972 and is the Director for the Research Project.
• Brian Coffey, Ph.D., University of Washington Tacoma Professor and researcher, Urban Studies Program.
• Lisa Hoffman, Ph.D., University of Washington Tacoma Professor and researcher, Urban Studies Program.