Lost in Limbo: An Exploratory Study of Homeless Mothers' Experiences and Needs at Emergency Assistance Hotels

Increases in family homelessness have led several states to use hotels and motels as shelters. Except for investigations into “welfare hotels” of the 1980s, research on this practice is largely nonexistent. This study explored the experience of living in an emergency assistance hotel through in-depth interviews with 10 homeless mothers, triangulated with proximity analyses of the walking distance and public transit time between emergency assistance hotels in Massachusetts (n = 49) and 6 basic need types. Four themes emerged from interviews: living in limbo, profound isolation, role conflict, and immense difficulty meeting basic needs—which proximity analyses further illustrated. Findings suggest the need for systems to consider homeless families' mobility barriers and assess the built environment around hotels used to shelter families.

CONNECT