Please Underestimate Me

A ninth-grade dropout with two failed marriages and a mind-numbing alcohol addiction, Richard G. Tripp found himself out of work and on the streets in 1989, eating out of dumpsters and living under a plastic tarp by the Missouri River. No one would have expected this defeated and helpless "ship without a rudder" to transform himself into a nationally known crusader for America's poor and homeless.

But that's just what Tripp did. He put his life on the line to expose the shocking reality of homeless shelters, fight the unthinkable abuses and needless deaths he witnessed firsthand, and make life better for his down-and-out brothers and sisters. Founder of the renowned Care of Poor People, Inc. (COPP), Tripp has become a leading authority on homelessness-and on what each and every one of us can do about it.

Tripp's triumphant and deeply personal autobiography opens our eyes and hearts to the plight of the downtrodden and challenges us to make a genuine and tangible difference in our own communities.

Filled with faith-in God and in humanity-this ultimate American success story proves what's possible when we hold fast to our ideals, live to serve others, and devote ourselves to creating a more benevolent, generous, and loving world.