Oral Presentations - Session 2D: UC 331

Presentation Type

Presentation

Faculty Mentor’s Full Name

Daisy Rooks

Faculty Mentor’s Department

Sociology

Abstract / Artist's Statement

Homeless at Home in Missoula: Homelessness for the Mentally Ill

Many homeless individuals have to battle through the hardships of meeting their daily basic needs: some of these individuals have to do this while dealing with a mental illness. In Missoula, many homeless individuals become clients of the Poverello Center; where they get help meeting their daily basic needs as well as get some support with their mental illness through case workers. This paper will discuss some of the obstacles that homeless individuals face when they have a mental illness. I will draw upon ethnographic fieldnotes describing approximately 40 hours of observation at the Poverello Center. I expect to find two things. First, I expect to find that clients of the Poverello Center with mental illnesses face many more hardships than clients without mental illnesses. Second, I expect to find that these hardships include acquiring jobs, communicating with officials, having proper medical care, and receiving correct medications. The insights into the challenges of the mentally ill homeless population that I will generate,will help the general public be more understanding of the homeless population.

Category

Humanities

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Apr 11th, 3:20 PM Apr 11th, 3:40 PM

Homeless at Home in Missoula: Homelessness for the Mentally Ill

Homeless at Home in Missoula: Homelessness for the Mentally Ill

Many homeless individuals have to battle through the hardships of meeting their daily basic needs: some of these individuals have to do this while dealing with a mental illness. In Missoula, many homeless individuals become clients of the Poverello Center; where they get help meeting their daily basic needs as well as get some support with their mental illness through case workers. This paper will discuss some of the obstacles that homeless individuals face when they have a mental illness. I will draw upon ethnographic fieldnotes describing approximately 40 hours of observation at the Poverello Center. I expect to find two things. First, I expect to find that clients of the Poverello Center with mental illnesses face many more hardships than clients without mental illnesses. Second, I expect to find that these hardships include acquiring jobs, communicating with officials, having proper medical care, and receiving correct medications. The insights into the challenges of the mentally ill homeless population that I will generate,will help the general public be more understanding of the homeless population.