Description:
WINNER OF FIVE NATIONAL AWARDS IN FOUR CATEGORIES!*2016 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS - Award-winning Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir *2016 BEVERLY HILLS 4TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS - Winner in Social/Political Change category; *2015 FOREWORD REVIEWS INDIEFAB BOOK OF THE YEAR - Bronze Medal in Autobiography & Memoir category;*2015 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER'S IPPY AWARDS - Bronze medal in Current Events/Social Issues/Humanitarian category;*2015 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PRESS WOMEN'S Competition - 2nd place in Non-Fiction Book category.How does a memoir win five national awards in four different categories? According to Foreword Reviews 5-Star review "This blend of memoir, social advocacy, and stories about homeless men in Memphis, Tennessee" is "at once deeply personal and broadly drawn... By delving into the reasons behind homelessness of the individuals she meets, PatMorgan presents intriguing conclusions about issues related to mental health, government policy, and our social safety net. Perhaps most compelling, Morgan doesn't hold back about the frustrations of working not just with the system, but with the homeless themselves. Although she's always respectful in her descriptions of their mental issues and addictions, she is transformed from a wide-eyed volunteer to an advocate who sees far more shades of gray in the"concrete killing fields" around her.A political insider who once interned for Senator Al Gore and worked on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, Morgan settled in Memphis in a bid to save her second marriage and soon found herself volunteering at her church, helping homeless men find shelter and other resources. She soon found the experience to be life-changing and started documenting their stories as a way toward understanding their situations. The author even proposes a"Twelve Steps for Do-Gooders" based on the model followed by Alcoholics Anonymous. This powerful document, delivered with concision, artfully describes the difficult balance that many advocates and social workers must strike in order to be truly helpful. In step four, for example, she writes, "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself and the 'help' I was trying to provide to others, often rendered unrecognizable because of my frustration and anger at the very people I wanted so much to help." Where the book shines the brightest is in Morgan's descriptions of those very individuals.
