Unsheltered Love: Homelessness, Hunger and Hope in a City Under Siege

Medford-Rosow (Unblinded: One Man’s Courageous Journey Through Darkness to Sight) relates the stories of several people in New York City who were homeless at the start of the COVID pandemic. In March 2020, the author and her husband noticed the increased number of unhoused people living on the streets of their New York City neighborhood. Concerned about their survival, Medford-Rosow brought them sandwiches regularly and gradually befriended several. She tells each person’s story, focusing on how they came to be homeless and the efforts to find them social services and a room. The stories of the unhoused people are contrasted with events from the author’s own life, demonstrating that the circumstances that cause people to lose their homes are not uncommon. At the end of each chapter, Maggie Wright, one of Medford-Rosow’s unhoused friends, gives her perspective on the chapter’s events, providing additional insight. The author ponders the impact that the first year of the pandemic and New York City’s COVID policies had on the unhoused population.