ABSTRACT

Homeless young adults face a complex set of challenges as they navigate life and work. This study aims to guide scholarly and activist understandings of homelessness, communication, and employment by exploring homeless young adults’ struggles and tactics regarding work. Specifically, we argue that homeless young adults experience a ‘scaffolded city’ phenomenon, where regulated employment is all but out of reach due to the mutually reinforcing structures undergirding work and home. These built, imagined, and discursive structures manifest as domestic, bureaucratic, social support, and health barriers. We also highlight various tactics used by homeless young adults to navigate life and work despite these barriers, including communicating intentionally, coordinating nonprofit organizational resources, connecting to a higher purpose, maintaining motivation, and seeking entrepreneurial opportunities. We frame these findings to be used as a set of practical tools to design and evaluate homeless young adult employment programs.

摘要

无家可归的年轻人在生活和工作中面临着一系列复杂的挑战。本研究旨在通过探索无家可归的年轻人在工作中的挣扎和策略，来引导学者和激进主义者对无家可归，沟通和就业的理解。具体而言，我们认为无家可归的年轻人会经历“脚手架的城市”现象，受制于工作和家庭的相辅相成的结构，使受监管的就业几乎无法实现。这些建立，想象和讨论的结构表现为家庭，官僚，社会支持和健康壁垒。我们还将重点介绍尽管有这些障碍，无家可归的年轻人仍会使用各种策略来度过生活和工作，包括有意地进行沟通，协调非营利组织的资源，实现更高的目标，保持动力，寻找创业机会。我们将这些发现框架化，以用作设计和评估无家可归的年轻成年人就业计划的一组实用工具。