Addressing Homelessness

 
Homelessness and affordable housing are urgent socioeconomic issues that are closely interlinked. San Diego County has more than 7,600 homeless people per the latest Count-in-Time data for 2020, while statewide there are 114,000 homeless individuals.

A cross-disciplinary team of SDSU researchers drawn from public affairs, public health, economics, anthropology, engineering and other fields will come together to understand what’s at the core of homelessness, and how to prevent and reduce it. 

Their approach will focus on evidence-based solutions tempered with empathy. They will educate the next generation of practitioners and the current workforce on addressing the challenges by tackling the barriers and social determinants that drive homelessness.

The team will also engage community and industry partners in assessing the effectiveness of intervention strategies, and create awareness in the community through arts, communication and journalism. The group aims to become a national model for understanding, preventing and reducing homelessness.