| Summary: | This work is about a social grupo scarcely studied in Mexican historiography: the urban poor. Its viewpoint is also original, for the homeless are not only the object of institutions and public policies, but become social actors defining reforms and practices within Porfirian assistance policies. Although charity resources were scarce, being admitted into a public assistance institution became an option for survival among the city's homeless. Their insistence on being admitted into the Tecpam de Santiago and the Hospcio de Pobres can be seen in their applications, presenting themselves as worthy of charity. Public assistance is demanded and defended both through hidden claims and straightforward statements, for through its regularity, State charity becomes a means of survival.
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