Enriching community plans to end homelessness: The role of collaborative research

According to recent estimates, over 744,000 people experience homelessness on any given night. Such alarming figures have led to the call for development of 10-year community plans to end homelessness. In a rural, upstate New York community, a student-faculty research team collaborated with the local homeless alliance to conduct a mixed-method, exploratory study to inform the development of the community plan to end homelessness. The research team conducted a survey of 23 local homeless assistance programs to assess provider perceptions of client needs for nearly 60 distinct services. Participants were also asked to answer a series of open-ended questions regarding their perspectives about services and strategies for preventing and ending homelessness. Providers identified all but one of the services as having some level of need, and qualitative comments highlighted the high level of need for housing and case management. Primary barriers noted by participants included limited housing options and transportation. In addition to sharing study findings, the role of both student-faculty and college-community collaboration will be discussed. Partnership and collaboration played an essential role in the research project and its utility for the 10-year community plan to end homelessness. The student-faculty team will reflect on benefits and challenges of collaboration, and suggest considerations for designing collaborative research projects. This presentation will emphasize the role of collaborative partnerships and their potential for expanding knowledge and enhancing community well-being.