Scratch beginnings
Scratch Beginnings is a book by Adam Shepard, a graduate of Merrimack College.
action
It is a field report. Shepard wanted to investigate whether it was possible in the USA to work your way up from poverty on your own. He had the following plan: He wanted to move to a homeless shelter outside of his home state of North Carolina . He had $ 25, a sleeping bag, a bag, and the clothes he was carrying. His goal was to have at least $ 2,500, a car, and an apartment after a year. His book is a reaction to Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich . He wanted to check whether Ehrenreich's statement that the poor cannot lift themselves out of poverty on their own is correct.
For the first 70 days of his experiment Shepard lived in a homeless shelter in Charleston , referring food stamps. Then he found a job as a day laborer . He later found a permanent job with a moving company. After ten months, he had to stop the experiment because someone in his family was seriously ill. By then, however, he said he had managed to move into an apartment, buy a pick-up truck and save nearly $ 5,000.
Web links
- Official homepage of the book
- The Christian Science Monitor: Homeless: Can you build a life from $ 25?
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Homeless: Can You Build A Life From $ 25?" The Christian Science Monitor , February 11, 2008.