Community-Based Research Commons^™

Increasing Housing Stability Through State-Funded Community Mediation Delivered By The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (Hmp) In Fy2022, Madhawa Palihapitiya, David Sulewski, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (HMP) administered by the MA Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston in partnership with 11 Community Mediation Centers (Centers). The program is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and implemented in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The program was initially part of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI), which ended in the latter half of FY2022 and is continuing as an intervention to support housing stability. The evaluation was conducted by MOPC’s research unit comprised …

The Poorest Country In The World: Critiquing U.S. Culture Through Relational Cultural Theory And The Saints., Molly Neton

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

In this thesis I critique the American socioeconomic system and culture through a multidisciplinary lens. Using the works of philosopher Karl Marx, economist Robin Kimmerer, and forensic psychologist Christopher Williams, I argue that there are three interconnected characteristics of our socioeconomic system that disincentivize us from creating growth-fostering relationships. These characteristics are the encouragement of overconsumption, the prevalence of hyperindividualism, and that people are valued for what they produce, not who they are. To counteract these characteristics, we must fight to create a Culture of Encounter, which is a culture with a radical dedication to seeing, hearing, and loving individual …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the influence of social and structural communication variables on the perceived social connectedness of people experiencing homelessness in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and Joplin, Missouri areas. This study employed the ecological perspective of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach et al., 2001) and a communication perspective which envisions communicative interaction as constitutive of social experience. Using survey data from 166 participants, this study examined 11 research questions and hypotheses drawn from extant literature on homelessness, social connectedness, and CIT. ANOVAs, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a complex relationship between individuals and the communicative environment. This study …

“It’S Real”: Experiences Of Family Homelessness In Fort Worth, Texas, Bernd Scheffler, Dale Brooker Phd.

Pursue: Undergraduate Research Journal

Introduction: Despite the common public image of homelessness (read: a single “vagrant” person), families with children represent one-third of the homeless population—an especially-serious social problem since family homelessness has long-term negative impacts on two generations simultaneously. This interdisciplinary study examined the complexities of family homelessness in Fort Worth, Texas.

Methods: A literature review outlined pathways into family homelessness, shared experiences, and common intervention strategies. An original qualitative study followed, employing a phenomenological approach to interview families in a local rapid-rehousing program. Open-ended questions allowed free descriptions of personal realities. Audio-recorded responses were analyzed for relevant themes, commonalities, and variations.

Results: …

The Affects Of The Foot Conditions On The Homeless Population, Alexander Kaye

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The research is attempting to acknowledge and explain the impact, if any, on homeless individuals not wearing socks. The curiosity for this study started on December 25th, 2018 when my family and I were volunteering at a homeless shelter in South Florida. After having numerous conversations with homeless individuals, I was informed on how they do not have enough pairs of socks to keep their feet in a healthy condition. Thus, I decided to initiate a sock drive to improve the lives of those who are homeless. This study is looking at a series of articles that are reviewing the …

How Peer Support Specialists Uniquely Initiate And Build Connection With Young People Experiencing Homelessness, James Erangey, Connor Marvin, Danielle Maude Littman, Meredith Mollica, Kimberly Bender, Tom Lucas, Tara Milligan

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Young people experiencing homelessness are often apprehensive to engage in conventional service systems due to prior mistreatment by providers and others in their lives, as well as stigma associated with accessing services. Even when relationships between service providers and young people are initiated, they often end prematurely. Mutual aid, or peer-to-peer support, has a long and promising history within the mental health field, yet has received little empirical attention in work with young people experiencing homelessness. The present study used participatory qualitative methods to understand how peers uniquely initiate and build connection with young people experiencing homelessness. Through interviews and …

Overview Of The Housing First Model: An Underutilized Approach To Ending Homelessness, Catherine A. O'Byrne

Senior Theses

Homelessness is a nuanced social issue that affects every demographic in a community. My final thesis has developed from two main components, a creative project and a research paper, to better understand this multifaceted topic. The creative project was an art-based event to raise both awareness and funds for a local homeless shelter in Columbia, South Carolina. The project was completed in partnership with Transitions Homeless Center and the University of South Carolina. By working with Transitions, I became more aware of the current state of homelessness in South Carolina and of different methods that can continue to mitigate the …

Justice From The Perspective Of The Poor And Homeless, Jacob Swanstrom

Senior Theses

Justice from the Perspective of the Poor and Homeless is a report that reflects both an academic review of homelessness and qualitative reporting on how the Columbia homeless and poor populations interact with society. The aim of the thesis is to provide a wider look of just what homeless people face as they move through life in Columbia. To do this, I look through the lens of “rule of law” and use qualitative interviewing of homeless/poor and provide the conversations as a foundation to explain how homeless people interact with medical rights, employment rights and other areas of interest. As …

Organizational Forms For Community Collaboration To Confront Homelessness, Suzanne Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Homelessness is a complex social problem that touches many different sectors of a community--not only housing, but also healthcare, education, criminal justice, workforce, and more. Because of these complex interrelationships, homelessness as a social problem lends itself to collaborative governance where service providers across sectors come together to address the problem. This research examines homeless service provision as an example of how local government, nonprofit organizations, community funders, and other stakeholders collaborate and what knits those networks together. This research project encompasses three major efforts: a comparative case study of six different communities and how they have organized to confront …

Public Perceptions Of Homelessness In Humboldt County, John Thomas Krapf

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Homelessness is a social and political issue of great importance in the United States. For every 10,000 people in the U.S. 17 are experiencing homelessness (Bishop et al. 2017). Despite being a consequence of structural factors in the economy such as a lack of affordable housing and livable wages, the news media often frames the issue as an outcome of individualistic factors such as deviant characteristics, criminality, and personal flaws like drug addiction and mental illness. This study examines public perceptions of homelessness in Humboldt County. To explore this question, I conducted a content analysis of 94 articles on homelessness …

Assessing Community Progress On The Blueprint To End Homelessness, Kevin Whiteacre, Kenneth Colburn, Cristie Cole, Deanna Hazel, Ryan Mcclarnon, Bradley Vogelsmeier, Monica Williams, Wei Xie

Kenneth D. Colburn

In 2002, the Indianapolis Housing Task Force published the Blueprint to End Homelessness, an ambitious 10-year strategy to end homelessness in Indianapolis by 2012. The Blueprint called for regular reports and evaluation of progress toward the Blueprint’s goals. The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), charged with moving the Blueprint forward, has completed its own annual Community Progress Reports for 2009, 2010, and 2011. This report does not seek to replicate or evaluate these or any of the many previous reports CHIP has facilitated. We take what is presented in the previous reports as accurate and eminently useful. The …

Barriers To Food Security Experienced By Families Living In Extended Stay Motels, Stephanie Gonzalez Guittar

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Families who are food insecure do not have regular access to food, access to enough food to satisfy their hunger, or have to resort to extraordinary measures to access food such as traveling to food pantries and other emergency food sources. This article focuses on low-income families with children who live in extended stay motels and experienced food insecurity. Families reported several indicators of food insecurity and discussed the barriers to food security they experienced as a result of living in a motel. Families reported that the locations of the motels, lack of transportation, the lack of storage space and …

Sexual Victimization Of Male Refugees And Migrants: Camps, Homelessness, And Survival Sex, Rachel E. Mcginnis

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This report focuses on sexual violence against and exploitation of males as a human rights violation committed during armed conflict or as an indirect outcome of armed conflict. It identifies the difficulty refugees and migrants experience inside refugee camps and what happens to young men and boys who are on the streets. By looking at the current crisis in Athens, Greece I expose the implications of failed policies for refugees. In addition, I challenge the world to redefine our understanding of sexual violence as a gender issue.

The Relationship Between Self-Determination And Client Outcomes Among The Homeless, Samuel M. Hanna

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper has attempted to determine if there is a significant relationship between self-determination and client outcomes among the homeless. The study has been based upon the conceptual framework set forth in Self-Determination Theory. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between self-determination and client outcomes among the homeless. Using a data collection instrument, based on empirically validated instrumentation, clients from several homeless service providers in the City of San Bernardino were assessed for the level of self-determination and autonomy support they experience within these agencies. Outcome measures included such things as whether the client was going …

Homelessness In Arkansas, Nichelle Sullivan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to reveal a realistic narrative about homelessness in Arkansas through the qualitative perspective provided by people directly affected by homelessness. We interviewed experts with both theoretical and applied experience in examining the causes and different pathways into homelessness, as well as some of the avenues that can assist someone to successfully navigate out of homelessness. This research documentary focuses particularly on the experiences of homeless families headed by single women and the challenges they face in resolving homelessness. Qualitative interviews were performed and a website was created that is targeted towards helping others to find the necessary …

Wood County Project Connect: Final Report For Event Held October 15, 2014, Melissa W. Burek, Mamta Ojha, Morgan Fair

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Project Connect is an outreach and an awareness raising event based on a model endorsed by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The event is an opportunity to inform the community about the need that exists, as well as a chance to address that need. Project Connect (PC) is designed to provide immediate goods and services to at risk individuals in one day at one location. Our report presents that descriptive data and evaluation of a PC event that occurred in October of 2014 in Wood County, Ohio.

Wood County Project Connect, Final Report For Event Held October 15, 2014, Melissa Burek, Mamta Ojha, Morgan Fair

Melissa Burek

Project Connect is an outreach and an awareness raising event based on a model endorsed by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The event is an opportunity to inform the community about the need that exists, as well as a chance to address that need. Project Connect (PC) is designed to provide immediate goods and services to at risk individuals in one day at one location. Our report presents that descriptive data and evaluation of a PC event that occurred in October of 2014 in Wood County, Ohio.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: Crime And Politics, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional and sub-regional perceptions of crime and politics from the 2015 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2015) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center. Data from prior years is also provided when available to show comparisons in responses over time. Responses were weighted by city population, race, age, gender, and phone usage (cell versus land-line) to be representative of the Hampton Roads region.

Opinion: Too Many Veterans With Children Are Still Homeless, Christopher R. Fee, Joshua L. Stewart

English Faculty Publications

Don’t ignore homeless veterans.

As we pause this Veterans Day to reflect on those who have sacrificed in the service of our country, let us not neglect to address the plight of those who have returned to a civilian life with far less promise than they have every right to expect. [excerpt]

Welfare And Homelessness In Indianapolis: Populations At Risk And Barriers To Self-Sufficiency, Indianapolis, Leslie Lenkowski, David A. Reingold, Wendy Chun-Hoon, Katherine B. Novak, Charles Guthrie, Kenneth D. Colburn

Katherine B. Novak

Who are the homeless in Indianapolis? How has welfare reform affected Indianapolis families who rely on public support? What barriers are preventing these populations from becoming self-sufficient? Two recent studies help answer these questions for policymakers and service providers. This issue brief summarizes the studies’ demographic findings, and the problems that erect barriers to self-sufficiency among the poor in Indianapolis.

The Voice Of The Homeless Adult Male: Perceptions Of Those Who Have Successfully Transitioned To Self-Sufficiency, Dallas W. Gatlin

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study drew out and described the perceptions of 10 men who successfully made the transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Responding to semi-structured openended questions in a one-on-one interview format, participants shared perceptions about their lived-experiences before, during, and after chronic homelessness, and how they navigated the difficult journey to self-sufficiency. The researcher used conventional content analysis to allow the perspectives of participants to emerge from their own words in themes and meaning units. The findings of this study suggest that from participants’ point of view loss of social support due to the death of a parent or spouse, divorce, …

Moving Home: An Evaluation, Center For Social Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Center for Social Policy (CSP) is carrying out an analysis of data on the housing situations of participants in the Moving Home program, which is run by the Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) in New York City (NYC). BRC is one of the largest, most comprehensive social service agencies in NYC, offering a client-focused continuum of 27 programs that serve 2,600 individuals daily. Launched in 2007, BRC’s Moving Home initiative applies an individualized, low-threshold model to transitioning chronically homeless men and women from the streets to permanent housing.

Our National Shame, Christopher R. Fee

English Faculty Publications

I spend a lot of time with my students working at soup kitchen and homeless shelters, and each winter, when it gets really cold and dark, my thoughts more often turn back to Dick. Dick died on Jan. 31, 1988. He was a veteran who served in Germany in the 1950s and was a graduate of St. John's University in New York, where his father has been an Engligh professor.

Dick had completed most of the work for his MBA during a career which included positions at Procter & Gamble, Federated Department Stores, and National Cash Register. At the time …

Challenging Homelessness, Elizabeth D. Marshall

SURGE

I had been homeless for about 28 hours. I sat on a sidewalk in Georgetown with a friend holding a cardboard sign that read, “Put a Smile on Our Faces” with a Dunkin Donuts cup at our feet. In the two and a half hours we sat there, hundreds of people passed, hundreds of people avoided eye contact, hundreds of people detoured around the lamppost on the street side of the sidewalk. A few people glanced at our sign. [excerpt]

Friends In The Desert Foundation, Inc. Program Evaluation, Gina Brooksbank, Jessica Wilde, Holly Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This report presents an evaluation of the Friends in the Desert, Foundation Incorporated (FID), a sit-down feeding program in downtown Henderson, Nevada. The evaluation identified both strengths of the program and opportunities for growth. Major components of this report are presented in the following order: scope of work, research design, findings, recommendations, conclusions and limitations. The report recommendations provide the agency’s members and principal stakeholder groups with proposals designed to improve the program’s financial position and long-term viability. These recommendations focus on opportunities for restructure, growth, and uninterrupted success.

FID is a sit-down feeding program located at St. Timothy’s Episcopal …

Homelessness: Causes, Culture And Community Development As A Solution, Kaitlin Philipps

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to explain the reasons that homelessness occurs, and how it is currently being dealt with in public policy. Triggers and predictors of homelessness are explored and it is shown that triggers are almost always compounded, indicating a multitude of factors that lead to homelessness. The culture and community surrounding the homeless lifestyle is seen as playing a significant role in how the individual copes with their homelessness. The norms and values of their culture are investigated and its role in rehabilitation is explored. Current institutions for helping the homeless are analyzed for different success rates. Additionally, initiatives …

Assessing Community Progress On The Blueprint To End Homelessness, Kevin Whiteacre, Kenneth Colburn, Cristie Cole, Deanna Hazel, Ryan Mcclarnon, Bradley Vogelsmeier, Monica Williams, Wei Xie

Sociology

In 2002, the Indianapolis Housing Task Force published the Blueprint to End Homelessness, an ambitious 10-year strategy to end homelessness in Indianapolis by 2012. The Blueprint called for regular reports and evaluation of progress toward the Blueprint’s goals. The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), charged with moving the Blueprint forward, has completed its own annual Community Progress Reports for 2009, 2010, and 2011. This report does not seek to replicate or evaluate these or any of the many previous reports CHIP has facilitated. We take what is presented in the previous reports as accurate and eminently useful. The …

Homeless Over 50: The Graying Of Chicago's Homeless Population, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Christine George, Marilyn Krogh, Dennis Watson, Judith Wittner

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

This is a report of a 2-year collaborative study of homeless people aged 50 to 64 in Chicago between Loyola University Center for Urban Research and Learning and the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness. This study had three goals: To obtain a demographic profile of people who are homeless in Chicago and are between the ages of 50 and 64; to understand how the various systems designed to serve this population do and do not meet their needs; and to begin to suggest a range of policy and programmatic responses to meet the needs of this population. Information for this …

United Power For Action And Justice: Breaking The Cycle Of Homelessness Reports - Policy Brief, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Christine George, Chiara Sabina, Aparna Sharma

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

This is a story of two groups of determined people with intersecting interests. Group one: a dozen leaders within United Power for Action and Justice who set out to prove their conviction, that homelessness is one symptom of a complex of issues that destabilizes individuals and communities. Group two: persons who are homeless and struggle daily to “fit in” to a landscape that is, more and more, structured to shut them out. In 2000, a cluster of leaders within United Power organized member institutions in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago, and initiated a relationship with Congressman John Porter …

Experiencing Homelessness In Bloomington-Normal, Illinois: Resources And Needs For Shelter And Supportive Services, Beverly A. Beyer, Sharon M. Mills

Graduate Research-Sociology and Anthropology

In August 2002, The Salvation Army commissioned the Applied Social Research Unit (ASRU) of Illinois State University to conduct research about homelessness, housing needs and availability, and resources and needs for supportive services. The Salvation Army of Bloomington, Illinois, plans to rebuild its current homeless shelter, Safe Harbor. The primary goal of ASRU’s research and this report is to inform The Salvation Army’s plans for shelter design, utilization, and associated programming. (A separate addendum to this report released to The Salvation Army contains information specific to the Bloomington Corps’s and Safe Harbor Shelter’s operations and facilities.) A potential outcome of …