Pat Morgan has worked for decades to help break the cycle of homelessness.
In addition to We Hardly Knew Them, Pat is the author of The Concrete Killing Fields, One Woman’s Battle to Break the Cycle of Homelessness, which has won five national book awards. Her understanding of the “system” of services and housing for homeless people is based on years of hands-on work with homeless people and providers of services. Her knowledge of national policy and programs grew exponentially during the six years in which she served as a presidential appointee to the staff of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and as a Special Assistant in HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development during the Clinton administration.
“A data nut,” she admits, her interest has never waned. Following her work in the Federal government, she served for ten years as the executive director of Partners for the Homeless, Memphis and Shelby County’s “lead” organization for developing and coordinating the local “Continuum of Care” system. (Note: the organization is now called the Community Alliance for the Homeless.)
Pat working in her office at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A native Arkansan with a rich, southern sense of humor, her experience in that state as an elected official in county government, her highly successful work as Assistant Vice President for Public Relations and Business Development at a local bank (after working her way up from file clerk), and her success as a real estate broker bring added value to her work.
A graduate of noted Rhodes College in Memphis (at 51) with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and a success by almost any measure in most areas, Pat insists that it is her lack of success in helping homeless people with untreated severe and persistent mental illnesses access the inpatient treatment that they desperately need but are too sick to know they need, that drives her work and advocacy today. Without a doubt, it is the homeless mentally ill people who have died or are still on the streets of Memphis because she couldn’t get inpatient treatment for them, and the sure knowledge that there are thousands more on the streets of America that drove her to write this book.
But there is more, much more, about Pat. A passionate, powerful speaker with a rich sense of humor to offset the tragedy of homelessness, she talks about what she’s known for decades and what she’s recently learned but is never afraid to acknowledge that nobody has all the answers. While there are some responses to homelessness that make a difference everywhere, what works well in other areas may or may not work well at all. The bottom line is that listeners get the truth about why some of the responses don’t work well to help prevent or end homelessness of people with severe and persistent homelessness, but house those who might well recover in a long-term, residential treatment and an alcohol/drug-free environment in which to live, with a job for those who are still able to work or do volunteer work to give back to their communities.
Pat Morgan calls Tennessee home and was honored to receive the Rhodes College Distinguished Service Award and the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis Legend Award.
What People Are Saying
“Pat Morgan is a national treasure. No one understands the problem of homelessness in America better than Pat, and she brings that knowledge to life in the rich descriptions of the Concrete Killing Fields.”
— Marcus Pohlman, PhD, Professor of Political Science, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
“Pat Morgan is a model for all who have expressed concerns about the homeless population… I recommend her book to all who have similar concerns.”
— E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., Founder, Treatment Advocacy Center
