We are three students from City University, and we had the delight of collaborating with the Greenwich Homeless Project, where we hosted a women-only book club session on April 16th, 2025. Our goal was to offer a warm, welcoming, and reflective space for women with inconsistent housing, many of whom have experienced extreme marginalization, gender-based violence, and systemic neglect. Our chosen text for the session was The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy, an iconic piece of feminist writing, more specifically, the poems Penelope, Mrs Midas, and Little Red Cap. These poems gave voice to women traditionally overlooked or silenced in myth and history, like how women with inconsistent housing are often erased from public conversations or reduced to stereotypes. The poems allowed space for reflection, discussion, and shared experiences on themes of renewal, resilience, and flourishing. We provided hot tea and snacks, offering genuine hospitality and comfort, and held powerful, intellectually challenging conversations about literature with our guests.

In the second hour of our session, we discussed the issues women with inconsistent housing experience, which are overshadowed by the media and the general narrative about homelessness. One of our participants was brave enough to share a few of her own powerful stories that shed light on the immense danger everyday tasks, like riding the bus or going to the bathroom can carry for homeless women.