Book Clubs for the Homeless

It is my firm conviction that literature can actually free us! It can open our eyes to worlds we've never known, open our hearts to the heartbreaks and joys of others, and open our minds to the possibilities that lie ahead. For this small group of homeless adults in Boston, the book club they have formed has allowed them to find a sense of normalcy in their unpredictable lives.

“It’s five people in a book group, not 5,000 people fed, but it’s five people I can pull aside and talk to,’’ said Tibbetts - the group's founder. Indeed Tibbetts. Five people...whose lives will be forever changed by the ability to expand their minds. As you can tell, I'm loving this:-) and I was so so happy to find out that similar book clubs for the homeless are cropping up all over the country. There's even one here in Cincinnati through Ink Tank.

Read more about the Boston club below -

The word is their bond
From a rare friendship, a book club for the homeless is born

By Jenna Russell, Boston Globe Staff Write

At the crest of Beacon Hill in a well-appointed room, the Tuesday morning book club is tearing a novel apart.

The critique, on this warm early summer day, is merciless, and as it heats up, the meeting crackles with complaints. There should have been more clues to help the reader unravel the mystery, Donnie insists. Ned, between bites of a glazed doughnut, dismisses a main character as unbelievable. Rob is irked by the same character’s inconsistencies.

“For someone who knows everything about her son, she doesn’t know a damn thing,’’ Rob says, his voice dark with disappointment.

The men drinking coffee at the round wooden table are dressed casually in sweat shirts, jeans, and sneakers. Some of their faces are lined beyond their years. But as they deftly flip through paperbacks assessing literary merit, there is no sign their lives are anything but normal.

For two lively hours every Tuesday morning, in a church meeting room with old oil portraits, they are book club members first and homeless people second.

The story of the book club, now in its 10th month, is a tale of ordinary city life upended. It began with a stunningly unlikely friendship, between two men from different worlds: Peter Resnik, a high-powered lawyer on his way to work, and Rob, a homeless man guarding a friend’s shopping cart on Boston Common. Through months of daily conversations, that began with jokes and sports talk and gradually delved deeper, they found a common interest: literature. And when they saw the bridge that they had built, they recognized its potential for others.

In a short time, they say, the book club has proved its power to reach homeless people and build their confidence. Emboldened by its success, Ron Tibbetts, a Beacon Hill church deacon and longtime homeless outreach worker, has launched plans to replicate it. His new nonprofit group, the Oasis Coalition, aims to establish dozens of small social groups citywide, filling the gaps left by large, institutional programs that offer the homeless food and shelter but little or no personal connection.

“It’s five people in a book group, not 5,000 people fed, but it’s five people I can pull aside and talk to,’’ Tibbetts said.