Some federal and state politicians are backtracking on commitments to address homelessness in ways supported by research evidence. Increasingly, they are deemphasizing the need for housing support, which is the best way to end homelessness, and centering criminalization, which is traumatizing and neither supports movement into dignified housing nor helps to end the homelessness crisis.

 

At Homelessness Hub, we remain committed to approaches that have been proven to reduce homelessness, specifically preventing homelessness through direct subsidies, implementing case management tools that support connections to social services and housing, and providing deeply affordable housing with ongoing case management, when needed. Many local governments and service providers in the San Diego region understand what works and are implementing prevention and diversion programs, innovative housing solutions, and proven case management techniques. This newsletter shows how Homelessness Hub is working to inform such efforts by releasing new research findings, using research to support public policy development, sharing findings at conferences, and lifting up the stories of people with lived experience. 

 
Sincerely,
Jennifer Nations, PhD - Managing Director
Mirle Rabinowitz Bussell, PhD - Faculty Director
Leslie R. Lewis, PhD, MPH - Director of Education and Community Engagement

Criminal Justice-Involved Case Study

 

Homelessness Hub has released a new report on the connections between homelessness, substance use, and criminal justice involvement. The report is based on interviews with 60 justice impacted individuals as well as interviews with homelessness service providers, recovery program staff, and individuals working within the justice system. This report details critical junctures - including diversion to treatment, probation and parole at the point of reentry, and engagement with homelessness services prior to arrest - within the churn between homelessness and incarceration where exit is most possible. Click here to read the report.

 

Homelessness Hub Researchers Won  Award at California HIV Research Program Conference

 

With funding from the California HIV Research Program (CHRP), Hub researchers are studying the potential of sanctioned encampments (i.e., the City of San Diego Safe Sleeping program) to improve HIV prevention and care, with Dr. Jennifer Nations acting as project principal investigator. 

 

Recently graduated Homelessness Hub student researcher, Jessica Jatiram, and HEART Fellow, Jenna Rose, presented preliminary findings from the project at a CHRP conference poster session and won the Community-Centeredness in Research Award. The team's initial findings suggest promise for implementing community education initiatives and vending machines to access HIV prevention tools at sanctioned encampment sites.

 

New Homelessness Hub Blog

 

Alongside our periodic newsletters, we are launching a blog which will offer insight into the research we do and the researchers who conduct it, as well as perspectives on a variety of topics related to housing and homelessness. Our hope is to share, in clear and straightforward language, who we are, what the research process is like, what we are learning, some of the challenges we face, and what the implications are for policy and practice across our region. Check out the new blog here: https://sites.ucsd.edu/homelessness-hub-blog/

 

Photovoice Event and Gallery Explore the Lived Experience of Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) Tenants

 

This past September Homelessness Hub, in collaboration with Scholars Strategy Network, put on an event showcasing the Hub’s multiyear project on single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels in downtown San Diego. The event coincided with the opening of a gallery exhibit in the Public Engagement Building at UC San Diego which features images taken from SRO tenants (currently up through Fall Quarter 2025). Focusing on Photovoice as a powerful method for policy reform, the event featured Homelessness Hub Postdoctoral Fellow Stacey Livingstone, Dr. Peggy Peattie, an award-winning photojournalist, and two SRO tenants who participated in the study.

 

Attended by faculty and students as well as other researchers in the region, members of San Diego Housing Commission, and local media, the event focused on conflicting themes. While many SRO tenants have experienced homelessness in the past and are grateful for their own space, others highlighted the need for larger units, more accessible buildings, communal spaces for socialization, and better building maintenance. These findings have implications for SRO preservation efforts and visions of new construction for the region. Inspired by attending the event, reporter Katie Hyson recently wrote a piece on SROs for KPBS. The report cites Homelessness Hub’s research and centers the story of one of our participants, Calvin Neal.

 

Atlas Interactive Map

 

Hello from the H-Hub GIS Portal! Quick reminder that GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, and a very important aspect of our work at the Homelessness Hub is the geospatial portal. We have a new public, interactive mapping application at H-Hub! This application is called “Atlas” and is one of the many apps within the Esri suite. In the last newsletter we told you all about our public data layers, and now you can make your own map with any of them. And it’s easy! Add layers to your map using the "Add layer" and then the "+ symbol" button next to the layer of interest. Then use the "Map layers" button to view and modify the layers that you have on your map. Use the "Basemap Gallery" to switch background views and the "Legend" to show the symbols. Explore the data on the map by zooming in and out, panning, and going to a specific address (buttons in the top left corner of the screen) or using the "Measure" tool. You can also use the "Sketch" tool for drawing and save your completed map for printing or downloading. Check it out here: https://ucsdonline.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/atlas/index.html?appid=4fa144f397424f6d8a66cf38993cf715&webmap=05aa46d995734ac58baa3bc47034628b

 

New Student and Staff Researchers

 

This fall, two new undergraduate researchers and one staff researcher joined our team: Aya Jaffer, Kieran Stanko, and Gloria Magallanes. Aya is a third-year Urban Studies and Planning Major who is assisting with our California HIV/AIDS Study. Kieran is a second-year double majoring in Urban Studies and Planning and Real Estate and Development, helping to map evictions in San Diego County and working on an encampment StoryMap. Gloria is a policy researcher and community advocate committed to advancing equity in housing and homelessness. Her background spans nonprofit, academic, and public-sector settings, with experience delivering data-informed policy solutions and managing collaborative projects at the California YIMBY, UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, and the National Conflict Resolution Center. She holds a Master of Public Policy from UCLA and a B.A. in Global Health from UC San Diego.

 

Homelessness Hub Public Policy Engagement

 

This fall, Stacey Livingstone, a Postdoctoral Fellow with Homelessness Hub lent her expertise to a panel hosted by the California Research Bureau Nexus that provided an overview of student basic needs challenges to policymakers and researchers. The event centered the realities of student housing and food insecurity in California as well as innovations to improve basic needs stability for students across the state. 

 

Likewise, in October, Josh Newton, a Postdoctoral Fellow with Homelessness Hub spoke at an Information Session on Community Land Trusts (CLTs) at the City of San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee alongside Julie Corrales, Executive Director at Tierras Indígenas CLT, and Georgette Gomez, Community Development Officer at Casa Familiar. The Informational Session provided an overview of CLTs and specific case studies of Tierras Indígenas CLT in Barrio Logan/Logan Heights and Avanzando San Ysidro CLT. Check out the recording from October 9th here: https://sandiego.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=12

 

Homelessness Hub Team Members Attend Academic Planning Conference in Minneapolis

 

Members of Homelessness Hub traveled to Minneapolis for the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning this October. Two of our co-directors, Drs. Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell and Leslie R Lewis presented preliminary findings on the pedagogical and community impacts of their award-winning course series on homelessness in San Diego. One of our postdoctoral scholars, Dr. Josh Newton, gave a presentation on the potential of community land trusts to reduce the racial wealth gap, which is heavily contributed to by disparities in home ownership rooted in systemic racism.

 

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