I Have Arrived Before My Words: The Autobiographical Writings of Homeless Women

by Deborah Pugh

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0964712423
• ISBN13: 9780964712423
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Charles River Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Head and Shoulders above Life!!

Head and Shoulders above life is exactly my comment towards this Autobiographical Writings of Homeless Women in I Have Arrived Before My Words. To put it in simple language these women Gayle, Dionne, Georgia, Ann and Angie have been through hell and back.Personally these five women have taught me to be stronger in life;i feel now that what ever life throws my way i can overcome it because compared to the issues that these five women had my life is perfect. These women displayed courage, humbleness, heroic and definitely much faith in God as i read through their memoirs, but the most admirable woman to me was Gayle because of her steadfast in the Lord Jesus Christ as she wrote, " My faith gave me life today, and i have a life knowing that with God first anything can be possible"(49).I can relate to this on a personal level because i have and is still living this truth, and yes indeed with God first in one's life anything is possible;therefore,with all the trials and tribulations that these ladies might have fought through in their lives they rised from it and became Head and Shoulders above life meaning they have conquered the hardships in their lives because they are still here and sharing their stories with others to help and guide us to know that no matter what we go through in life the sun will always rise and signifies that there will always be a new day,new beginning in life if we don't give up....

English 100AM Rayes

What an eye opener of a a book. In "I Have Arrived Before My Words," contains five memoirs of homeless women and their experiences before, after and with homelessness. The title is exactly what it says, because it refers to some of the struggles the women are battling before homelessness and which lead them into the street of the dammed. This book changed my perspecitive in many ways. First, homeless people are not all victims of circumstance. Another way, is that homeless people are not all dumb people but are very resourceful and talented. I could go on and on, but I will let the reader indulge and discover a new world of homeless people. In another note, if the reader enjoys this book, the reader should also look for the book, " Tell Them Who I Am " by Elliot Liebow.

A great book that you must read.

I strong recommend this book, I Have Arrived Before My Words, to anyone who is interested in homeless women. This book gives reader a picture of how five women, Gayle, Ann, Georgia, Dionne and Angie, struggled either from drugs, abuse, illness or neglect; and became homeless in the end. Although they were victims of abuse in someway in their lives, their survival was heroic. Each woman has her own coping methods to escape. These women's experiences were real, and it reconnects us with the dignity and humanity of our most marginalized citizens. This book gives these women a voice, a human face and a connection to the dark side of society. These women have been treated as insignificant, voiceless and faceless was the overall cause that they became homeless. All these women need now are their voice to be heard, and society should take care of these women.

Must read!

I Have Arrived Before My Words is an autobiographical writing of homeless women. This book contains five memoirs written by five homeless women, by the name of Gayle, Angie, Dionne, Ann, and Georgia. In these written memoirs these women are able to let us understand and experience there hardships that they have been placed in throughout their lives, which has been a factor in what has cause them to become homeless. Every single one of these women have been victims of abuse in sometime in their life, so the ability to be able to talk about it is incredible. The ability to write about there experiences just interests me because by doing so they are able to cope with the issues from the past. As said "The first step to recovery is to admit that something is wrong" this is what these women have done. This is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone to read. I Have Arrived Before My Words has given a sense of understanding how easily some people have become homeless. This is an awesome book! Two thumbs up!

An insightfull look at homelessness and its hard truths

This innovative book by Deborah Pugh and Jeanie Tietjen, presents autobiographical writings of five Washington,D.C., women who are or have been homeless. It is about Deborah's and Jeanie's experiences teaching writing and literature in homeless shelters and jail. But it is also how these women came together to break silences and to learn from eachother through writing. These seven women are testimony to what such programs of WritersCorps can do to tear down barriers and to improve lives. They have been marginalized because of their gender, thier class, thier behavior, their physical, mental, and emotional challenges-yet each is a citizen of our country, a part of our society, a voice that deserves to be heard. This book tells the hard truths about homelessness-that homeless people are often victems of mental illness, drugs, and alcohol-cannot be denied but must not be used to deny the tragic reality of homelessness itself. This superb book will force us to face the reality of homelessness, both the depth of the crisis and our ability to repair it, if we have the will and the honesty. After reading this book, I realized the extent of homelessness in this nation. There are millions of people who do not have a roof over there heads at night. There are children who have no place to call home. The homeless population is growing by leaps and bounds. This book should not only be read by all legislators, social workers, social work educators, and students. It should be mandatory reading for anyone who wishes to express an opinion on this controversial issue.