Better Than We Dreamed!
A quick recap of the 3 Melissas book launch
Nilan’s note: This is a re-post of my quickly written Substack post. The Three Melissas — The Practical Guide to Surviving Family Homelessness is a unique attempt to give homeless parents invaluable information they would not otherwise receive, and it will also enlighten service providers, educators, and the public about the mostly invisible issue of family homelessness.
‘The 3 Melissas book is THE TOOL that the McKinney-Vento program has always needed…’ (an anonymous homeless liaison at our 9–17–24 training session)
In a perfect world, we would have posted the details of our #3Melissas book launch (Sept. 17–18) right after it happened. I don’t need to tell you this is not a perfect world!
For my part, when I returned home to Blowing Rock, NC after the superb, successful launch, I was immersed in processing book orders. By the thousands! Then Hurricane Helene visited, upending life for so many of us unsuspecting folks.
The 3 Melissas Book Recap
One of the unexpected and fascinating pieces of the launch was our first session — with new homeless liaisons from across North Carolina. They were in the midst of a training to get them up to speed about how to identify and assist students experiencing homelessness. We came in after they had lunch. Anyone who’s attended a training knows how sleepy the participants are after ingesting a full lunch.
My co-author Diana Bowman and I hadn’t really done anything to prep the Melissas for these sessions. We had only 2 of the 3, with MelissaT in KS dealing with air travel madness as her early morning flight had been cancelled.
We showed the 5-minute “Meet the 3 Melissas” film, with a brief introduction on how this unique project came to be. Then the “magic” happened. Questions from the captivated new liaisons revealed the need for this book. By the end of our 2-hour session, the Melissas were autographing books as liaisons oohed and aahed all around them.
The next evening on the campus of North Carolina State University, the 3 Melissas did the same magic to a mixed audience — university students, professors, activists, and the public. Autographs abounded! Books were sold!
I must give deep thanks to our sponsors — NCSU School of Social Work, NC Coalition to End Homelessness, NC Homeless Education Program, and HOST (Housing Options for Students Today). Their efforts were stellar! And our emcee Terrance Ruth was incredible as he led the Melissas in a heartfelt discussion that had the audience rapt.
We also had out-of-state guests who added spice to these events! Our publisher, Pat LaMarche, from Charles Bruce Foundation, came down from Pennsylvania. DeBorah Gilbert White, from the National Coalition for the Homeless, came down from Delaware. And longtime friend and (ret.) Michigan McKinney-Vento state coordinator Pam Kies-Lowe flew up from Florida.
Wrap Up
Instead of me writing about the book and how incredible the 3 Melissas are, let me point to an incredibly written article by NC Newsline’s journalist Greg Childress who spent an uncommon amount of time with the 3 Melissas, Diana and me, and then crafted this comprehensive story that made our hearts very happy.
And this short, sweet book review by Eleanor Bader that captures the importance of this book.
Now we’re getting ready for a multi-state book tour! We’re going to hook up where possible with the closest Melissa, and get word out about this book. Based on the week of sales, the New York Times Best Seller list is on the horizon! Imagine! A book about 3 moms experiencing homelessness. Kind of like the book Stephanie Land wrote, Maid, that has been a NYT Best Seller and a hit Netflix movie!
(Apologies for not doing justice to these events. I’m working against a deadline of internet access and a bit of tiredness from picking up bazillion limbs left by Helene.)
Info about the book —
The Three Melissas book
Order through:
IngramSpark — $15
Amazon — $15
Bookshop — $13.95
