Charles Quimby, author of Not So Far From Home: Owning Homelessness in my Own Backyard, has long worked with the unhoused populations of Grand Junction and Minneapolis. In this accessible and entertaining book, Quimby vividly documents the lives and struggles and dreams of the people he has served, as well as the systemic failures that keep people poor and on the streets.
Quimby is not only a nuanced and compassionate archivist of the human experience, but he also evolves as an observer during the course of the book. One source pointed out as much, stating that the book is as much about Quimby’s evolution, as it is about the human interactions and dramas detailed within.
While Quimby wrestles with the big questions of poverty, addiction, and dispossession, and in an honest but potentially unsettling move he doesn’t provide big answers. Quimby’s work highlights that the solutions to homelessness have to be individualized in so much as the causes of homelessness are as unique as the people themselves.
The lessons and wisdom Quimby learns during this very personal journey are relatable and often actionable. Quimby has a unique ability to find the humanity in everyone, to accept people as they are, and is a refreshing point of view that should inspire more people to get involved serving their neighbors, friends and co-workers experiencing homelessness.
This 276-page book is available at local bookstores across the Grand Valley as well as online books sellers.
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