Karisa Peer, PhD

Karisa Peer, PhD Karisa Peer is a UCLA graduate with a Ph.D. in Education (Urban Schooling). Karisa’s multi-faceted career spans non-profit program management, fundraising, community outreach, international volunteering, qualitative research, copyediting, and over a decade of teaching from preschool to university levels. Her work and research have always focused on challenging the status quo and improving the lives of people living in marginalized communities. She is currently a Grants Associate with People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).

Posts by Karisa Peer, PhD

Monarch School: Bringing the Invisibility of Homeless Youth to Light

“. . . 1 in 45 children experience homelessness in the U.S. each year. That’s over 1.6 million children. While homeless, these youth experience high rates of acute and chronic health problems. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experiences also has profound effects on their development and ability to learn.”

Motherhood and Homelessness: Words That Should Not Go Hand in Hand

Posted Apr 15, 2015 | Comments Off on Motherhood and Homelessness: Words That Should Not Go Hand in Hand

Single-mother families are nearly five times more likely than married-couple families to fall below the poverty line and poverty is the number-one cause of child homelessness.

Homelessness and Its Many Faces: Sherial’s Story

“Anyone can be homeless. Homelessness is like a prison without the keys. Society needs to care enough to come up with those keys.”

“It’s a Hard-Knock Life for Us”: Homeless Children’s Invisibility in U.S. Schools and Beyond

Posted Dec 15, 2014 | Comments Off on “It’s a Hard-Knock Life for Us”: Homeless Children’s Invisibility in U.S. Schools and Beyond

Over a million homeless children in the U.S. (and countless who have not been included in homeless counts) continue to experience “hard-knock” lives. They don’t need a billionaire, like Oliver Warbucks to save them. They need us to collectively unmask hidden issues and create tangible solutions that prevent and end their homelessness. It is not “their” problem to fix. It is all of ours.

But First, Let Me Take a Selfie

Posted Oct 27, 2014 | Comments Off on But First, Let Me Take a Selfie

Homelessness and other societal issues cannot simply be cropped or photoshopped out of our lives. We must face them head on.