The premise of this article is that homeless shelters represent a new form of the institutionalization of the poor, despite the widespread perception that America's poor and mentally ill have been deinstitutionalized. While the volunteer staff that operates St. Mary's tries to provide permanent and transient residents with a non-demanding environment, in truth, there are many demands made on these homeless persons in the form of lack of privacy and respect of individuality. These characteristics of institutional life erode the individual's concept of self, control his activities and choices, and create barriers to leaving the shelter. The author concludes that providing shelter to homeless persons repeats the cycle of ephemeral reforms replete in previous approaches to controlling the poor. 4 references