Roxanne Chester wrote That is My Bag: A Story of the Unhoused after a dialog with a good friend. The good friend was returning house together with her younger daughter in her arms and located somebody sleeping in her constructing’s entryway. Ought to she attempt to rouse her, she puzzled? Or ought to she merely step over her en path to her house?
She was not sure find out how to discuss to her baby concerning the encounter. Wouldn’t it be finest to say nothing, she requested herself. If not, what phrases would stoke each compassion and understanding?
When Chester heard about her good friend’s battle to reply them, the dilemma struck an instantaneous chord.
The result’s a youngsters’s image ebook titled That is My Bag. It seems to be on the day-to-day realities of various folks—youngsters and aged, able-bodied and disabled and various in race—who’re compelled to hold their valuables with them as a result of they lack a everlasting residence.
The ebook is fantastically illustrated by Abraham Matias, and gives a stark introduction to the realities of being unhoused.
Chester spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader in late December, a number of weeks after the ebook was launched.
Eleanor J. Bader: That is My Bag is meant for kids between the ages of 5 to eight. How ought to adults discuss to this age group concerning the unhoused?
Roxanne Chester: At the start, we must be sincere. Youngsters can sniff out once we are evading a problem or ignoring a query. Worse, they could search out and discover solutions which can be incomplete or incorrect which is why we have to step in with the reality. One among my fears is that youngsters may additionally grow to be apathetic to homelessness. If a guardian doesn’t appear to care sufficient to speak about it, why ought to the child be involved?
Solutions must be age-appropriate, in fact, however the fundamentals can nonetheless be coated: there’s a scarcity of housing that individuals with little or no cash can afford. Youngsters may also perceive substance use problems and psychological sickness. The bottom line is honesty and openness.
I’ve a 14-year-old daughter so conversations together with her are extra substantive. We now have a relative who has skilled homelessness. He’s additionally battling a substance use dysfunction. We discuss him in our house on a regular basis.
I helped join him to the IIlumination Basis, a southern California group that works to interrupt the cycle of homelessness. They bought him wanted medical care and he’s now residing in a motel, not on the streets. However he nonetheless lacks a secure, everlasting house.
One among my fears is that youngsters may additionally grow to be apathetic to homelessness. If a guardian doesn’t appear to care sufficient to speak about it, why ought to the child be involved?
Roxanne Chester
Bader: You’ve visited a number of elementary colleges and libraries for the reason that ebook’s launch. How have youngsters responded to That is My Bag?
Chester: Children are asking about what they see round them. I reside within the San Francisco Bay Space and thus far, the children I’ve spoken to have all been native.
In a single faculty, a baby requested concerning the tents she’s seen pitched close to the freeway on-ramp. It’s difficult because it’s probably that a few of the youngsters within the classroom are at the moment experiencing homelessness or have been unhoused in some unspecified time in the future. In my presentation, I all the time stress the must be sort. I don’t wish to alienate anybody. I need the children to really feel empowered. Thus far, not one of the youngsters I’ve spoken to have disclosed that they don’t have a spot to reside. That is probably as a result of there’s nonetheless lots of disgrace round being unhoused. The youngsters have lots of questions which I attempt to reply as clearly and overtly as I can.
The fundamentals can nonetheless be coated: There’s a scarcity of housing that individuals with little or no cash can afford. Youngsters may also perceive substance use problems and psychological sickness. The bottom line is honesty and openness.
Roxanne Chester
Bader: Along with writing concerning the unhoused, you’ve volunteered with Venture Homeless Join within the Bay Space. Inform me about your work with The Venture.
Chester: The Venture has been round for about 20 years and gives providers and items to folks experiencing homelessness. This may be just about something from giving them a pair of studying glasses to referring them to a psychological well being clinic or backed housing. I volunteer within the cafe and likewise function a chaperone, connecting shoppers with the useful resource individuals who can hyperlink them to providers.
Bader: You’re additionally a lawyer. How did your many years of authorized work affect your choice to put in writing a ebook about homelessness?
Chester: I labored for authorized providers in Chicago for 9 years, 2005 to 2014, and offered help to unhoused folks. Earlier than this, as a public defender in Contra Costa County, Calif., I did legal protection work, however the want for housing and different concrete help providers was all the time current. I’ve now segued right into a extra artistic path and am working full-time as a youngsters’s ebook author.
Bader: What are you at the moment engaged on?
Chester: My objective in my writing is to assist folks acknowledge our shared humanity and encourage radical empathy. Should you can place your self in another person’s footwear, it adjustments you. That is My Bag asks readers what they might carry with them if they didn’t have secure housing to go to. What do they suppose they’d really feel in the event that they have been unhoused? What would possibly or not it’s like to repeatedly have to maneuver from one place to a different, particularly when they should relaxation? I additionally hope they’ll take into account whether or not acts of kindness can carry somebody relaxation and luxury.
Since finishing That is My Bag, I’ve written different tales, all geared to youngsters ages 5 to eight. One has to do with adoption and establishing id and relies on my life as an adoptee. One other is about celebrating pores and skin shade utilizing shade concept. A 3rd is about dementia as a result of I’ve folks in my household who’re displaying indicators of cognitive decline. The ebook features a part concerning the energy of music to assist folks with reminiscence loss join with the previous. This specific story addresses shedding a vital factor of a relationship with a grandparent or elder and is supposed to empower youngsters to attach with the older folks of their lives.
All of those tales are underneath submission and are with my agent from the Various Children Lit Company, so we’ll must see what will get traction.
It is a political second during which ebook banning is going on; it’s actually troubling. Children want books about social points, whether or not they’re LGBTQIA+ inclusive or about BIPOC folks and communities. Children want to have the ability to seize books that carry a number of views into their worlds. I hope my writing will get on the market and assist with that.
My objective in my writing is to assist folks acknowledge our shared humanity and encourage radical empathy.
Roxanne Chester
Bader: Why have you ever chosen to put in writing for such younger youngsters?
Chester: I really like the 5- to 8-year-old age group as a result of youngsters are so open and sincere at these ages. There is a component of magic with little youngsters. For me, the query is find out how to distill necessary subjects into one thing they’ll simply perceive. Image books, written as a 32-page story, appear to be the proper method to attain them.
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