The online news for SCU’s College of Arts & Sciences recently featured the Unhoused Initiative’s partnership with Senior Public Health Capstone students and their focused research on the local homelessness crisis.
UI Faculty Member, Dr. Sonja Mackenzie, has dedicated her Senior Public Health Capstone class to homelessness in Silicon Valley three years running. Projects have focused on two primary topics: stigma and homelessness, and the impacts of displacement while unhoused.
Community partners are a vital part of the Capstone students’ work. Agape Silicon Valley, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, the Mobile Showers, the Unhoused Advocacy Clinic, and people with lived experience of homelessness have all been a critical part of the projects, providing guidance, mentorship and insights to the research and work product. With the support of these partnerships, the students’ research will be used to inform advocacy, education and outreach in response to the homelessness crisis in Silicon Valley.
As noted by the CAS article, courses like Dr. Mackenzie’s Capstone class embody SCU’s Jesuit values: “Students are using their research skills to document the health impacts of displacement and, in the process, learning what it means to live out SCU’s Jesuit mission of serving humanity through education and action.” The UI is proud to support and offer opportunities for SCU students to witness the realities of the homelessness crisis and engage with those most deeply impacted by it. We thank the College of Arts & Sciences for supporting our efforts and sharing this part of our work.
The Unhoused Initiative at SCU 