Photographs by Mary Ellen Mark Introduction by Andrew Cuomo Preface by Robert Coles In the past ten years, church basements, armories, and hotels were converted into little more than expensive holding areas for the homeless. While people received "free" shelter, little assistance was given to them to overcome the underlying problems that caused them to be homeless. In fact, virtually no attention was given to actually analyzing and understanding the factors contributing to homelessness. While homelessness and poverty had always been with us in one form or another, the 1980s revealed that a new type of homelessness has emerged, and with it a dramatic change in the affected population. This new population, which was growing rapidly, consisted largely of single young men and young women with children. neither government nor private social service agencies were equipped to respond to this phenomenon. As the numbers of homeless grew, the public became increasingly aware of the systemic failure to respond to the problem. The expanded use of welfare hotels and armories came to symbolize the inadequacy and inhumanity of the government`s response. The plight of the homeless, and the particularity of homeless families and children, provoked mounting criticism of the government`s effort. It was in response to this crisis the Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged was born. The H.E.L.P. model was designed to help people help themselves, by providing a safe and humane environment that empowered families to stabilize themselves and pursue self-sufficiency. H.E.L.P. recognized that homelessness is most often caused by significant health, social, and economic factors, such as the lack of education, few employment opportunities, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Softcover / $35 USD 9.5" x 9.5" / 104 pages Duotone images ISBN 10-684-82593-7

About the Authors: Mary Ellen Mark studied painting and art history at the University of Pennsylvania. She turned professional as a freelance in the mid-1960s when she returned to University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Her photography has addressed numerous social issues such as homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution. She works primarily in black and white and has contributed to publications including LIFE magazine, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Mary has had three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Robert Kennedy Journalism Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and five honorary doctorates. She was a member of the Magnum Photos photography agency from 1977-1982. In 1988 she received a George Polk Award for photojournalism.