Rural Homeless and Springfield, Missouri's Service Hub

Homelessness in rural areas and small towns has largely been overlooked by geographers. This article details a case study of homelessness within a persistently poor rural region, providing insight into the coping strategies used, the nature of rural homelessness, and the question of migration to receive social services. Homelessness is shown to be positioned, for the most part, in metropolitan areas. Indeed, it was often not until households had moved to a larger urban setting that they were labeled as "homeless." We seek to understand more about the dignity and inventiveness of rural people and their coping strategies. A decentralized service hub framework proves useful in framing public policy discussions.