The home is the wellspring of personhood. It is where our identity takes root and blossoms, where as children, we imagine, play, and question, and as adolescents, we retreat and try. As we grow older, we hope to settle into a place to raise a family or pursue work. When we try to understand ourselves, we often begin by considering the kind of home in which we were raised.
”The home remains the primary basis of life.
”The home is the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets. We say that at home, we can “be ourselves.” Everywhere else, we are someone else. At home, we remove our masks.
”It is only after we begin to see a street as our street, a public park as our park, a school as our school, that we can become engaged citizens
”What else is a nation but a patchwork of cities and towns; cities and towns a patchwork of neighborhoods; and neighborhoods a patchwork of homes?
”America is supposed to be a place where you can better yourself, your family, and your community. But this is only possible if you have a stable home.
”When people have a place to live, they become better parents, workers, and citizens.
”Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school stability, which increases the chances that children will excel and graduate. And it begets community stability, which encourages neighbors to form strong bonds and take care of their block…Instability is not inherent to poverty. Poor families move so much because they are forced to.
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