I attended the RI Coalition for the Homeless “speakers bureau” on Friday. Barbara and other homeless and previously homeless folks told their stories. Barbara told of the infestations in her house and showed everyone the bite marks up and down her arms. A group of Fulbright Scholars joined our little group and asked many questions of the members including one I often ask myself, “How, in a country of such plenty, can there be so many people living in shelters?”