Use of Technology by the Homeless

Cell phones, library computers, laptops at shelters and coffeeshops, prepaid phones, temporary accounts, temporary usage and permanent need. These are some of the considerations of technology and the homeless. Much research needs to be done in this area.

Suggested Reading

• Sheltered in cyberspace? Computer use among the unsheltered ‘street’ homeless Original Research Article

Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 27, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 296-303. Karin M. Eyrich-Garg.

• Mobile phone technology: A new paradigm for the prevention, treatment, and research of the non-sheltered 'street' homeless? Journal of Urban Health

Volume 87, Issue 3, May 2010, Pages 365-380. Eyrich-Garg, K.M.

• Wireless a lifeline for homeless - Cell phones are becoming increasingly important to people living on the street By KEVIN GRAHAM. St. Petersberg Times. Published April 9, 2007.

• D.C. Homeless People Use Cellphones, Blogs and E-Mail to Stay on Top of Things By Petula Dvorak, Washington Post Staff Writer. Monday, March 23, 2009.

"Despite being homeless, Gwendolyn Bell manages to keep a cellphone. "A cellphone is the only way you can call to keep up with your food stamps, your housing application, your job," says Rommel McBride, who spent six years on the streets".