The professor of English had her column about homelessness in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina, appeared June 13, 2015, in the (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer.
From the column’s conclusion:
“Homelessness isn’t always the last resort. It may be the second-to-last, better than living in a shelter with who-knows-what other people in the same room, or on the bunk above or below you, with the added possible pleasure – in some places, at least – of religious indoctrination. In contrast, living on the street provides a kind of painful, exhausting, challenging freedom, where you may decide your next move.”