Oral history interview with Lisa Sperber, 2014

Biographical Note

Lisa Sperber was born Newburgh, New York in 1954. Her father was an oboe instructor at SUNY New Paltz and her mother ran a preschool called the Valley School. As a youth, Sperber gravitated towards music and the visual arts, particularly oboe and pottery. Other academic subjects were challenging, owing to dyslexia. While in high school, she began experimenting with alcohol and marijuana. Sperber started attending Curry College. A roommate introduced her to cocaine, and she dropped out after one year. In 1984, she got a degree in recreational therapy from Lehman College. Through the 1980s-1990s, Sperber lived in different localities in Westchester County, working at various jobs. In 2000, she had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized for seven months. At this point, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was able to start medication and get away from drugs and alcohol. In the following years, she worked in a group home for physically disabled children and at a Stop & Shop. She found a room to rent in Ossining, but was illegally evicted after the landlord improperly entered and found her bipolar medication. After a brief stay at a shelter in Westchester County, she went to New York City. She was unhoused in the city between 2002-2005, sleeping on the subway and staying at Madison Square Park, Penn Station, Grand Central, or occasionally Franklin Women's Shelter. While unhoused, she became involved with the Life Experience and Faith Sharing Associates (LEFSA). In 2006, an organization called Beacon of Hope helped her locate housing. In 2007, she graduated from New York Catholic Charities' Education Outreach Program (EOP), which helped her set goals to reconnect with her family, and she begin work with Easter Seals. She also began sharing her story through the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing's Speakers Bureau. In 2010, she began attending All Angels' Church

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Lisa Sperber describes her life story and experiences with homelessness. Sperber begins by sharing memories of her childhood. She gives a detailed description of her parents including her father's activities as an oboe player and professor of music and her mother's work founding and running a preschool. Throughout the interview, she revisits her complicated relationship with her parents. She also describes her warm relationship with her paternal grandparents. Sperber recalls her school days, including challenges finding friends, difficulty with reading-based subjects, a diagnosis with dyslexia, and an introduction to drugs and alcohol in attempts to fit in. She also recalls her love of visual arts and music, especially with pottery and the oboe. She describes her brief time at Curry College, her introduction to cocaine, her life in various towns in Westchester County in the following years, and recovery from a mental breakdown and substance abuse. She shares her story of becoming homeless, which started with an illegal eviction, because her landlord did not want to rent to a person with bipolar disorder. Sperber describes first going to a shelter near an airport in Westchester and an eventual move to New York City. She describes aspects of three years being homeless on the street of New York City: friendship among unhoused people, Madison Square Park, sleeping on the A train, working while homeless, strategies for showering, and many other topics. She discusses how Beacon of Hope helped her find housing in 2007. She describes her activities in Life Experience and Faith Sharing Associates (LEFSA), New York Catholic Charities' Education Outreach Program (EOP), and the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing's Speakers Bureau. She mentions figures such as James Addison, George Horton, Dennis Barton, and Eric Mull. She also describes aspects of faith: her Jewish upbringing, her conversion to Christianity, her personal thoughts on spirituality, and her involvement with All Angels' Church. She also discusses health issues with hip surgery and spinal stenosis, which may have arisen due to homelessness. Animals have played an important role in Sperber's life, and at various points she shares memories of dogs, cats, birds, and other pets

Subjects

• Church work with the homeless.
• Greenfield, Susan C., interviewer.
• Homelessness.
• Homeless persons--Mental health.
• Homeless persons--New York (State)--New York.
• Human-animal relationships.
• Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing.
• Interviews.
• Newburgh (N.Y.)
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Shelters for the homeless--New York (State)--New York.
• Shelters for the homeless--Westchester County--New York.
• Sperber, Lisa, 1954---Interviews.
• Spiritual formation.
• Subways--New York (State)--New York.

Access Conditions

Copyright by Lisa Sperber. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York hold a non-exclusive license to enable library activities