A number of people have asked how to get copies of my essay on the death of Portlander Jessica Williams and the response of the faith community towards violence against people who are homeless. First, you can still read the essay on the NCH site by clicking here. I've also uploaded the Word file the document is in and you can access that by clicking the download file button.

What's the essay about?

Jessica Kate Williams was 22 years old and homeless when allegedly 12 other homeless youth and young adults repeatedly stabbed her, set her on fire, and left her to die under a Portland, Oregon bridge on May 23, 2003. (1) The violent nature of her death – along with what a district attorney called the "Lord of the Files" (2) feel to it – captured immediate media attention. It was not the first murder in 2003 of someone who lived homeless in America. In fact, over the period of 1999 – 2002 the National Coalition for the Homeless tracked the murders of 123 homeless individuals who were killed by people who were not homeless and another 89 violent attacks were noted that did not result in death. (3) Most of these crimes have gained little media attention. Homeless on homeless violence confirms our stereotypes of who homeless people are and is easier to digest than crimes committed against homeless people by those who have homes. All these violent incidents, however, must force Christians – and other religious people – to seriously consider how our failure to acknowledge the bonds of common humanity between us have lead to an increasing numbers of deaths. Bringing justice to this growing crisis on both individual and societal levels should be of paramount concern to people of faith.