SCU Research: Housing is Health

Micah Lattanner, Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences, recently published his research related to health outcomes for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) residents in the Journal of Community Health. Working with UI founding member, Dr. Jamie Chang (now of UC Berkeley), as well as Santa Clara County’s Valley Homeless Healthcare Program and Behavioral Health Services Department, Professor Lattanner’s study followed 259 Santa Clara County PSH residents for two years. Results of the study show that PSH residents reported significant improvements in quality of life, mental health, health satisfaction, substance use and social isolation.

Congratulations to Prof. Lattanner and his co-authors on this meaningful work, which was funded in-part by an Unhoused Initiative faculty research grant.

You can read the full article on the UI’s Online Resource Bank.

Fall Service Opportunities : We hope you’ll join us in service of others!

• National Lived Experience Conference – UI Community Partner, Destination: Home SV, is looking for volunteers at the upcoming National Lived Experience Conference, Sept. 28-30. Through networking, panels, film screenings, workshops and more, people with lived experience and their allies will gather in collective action to solve homelessness. Volunteers are needed to help make the conference a success. If you would like to take part in this nationally recognized event, follow this link for more information and to volunteer!

• Confronting the Homelessness Crisis Through Art – Volunteers are needed on October 29th and 30th to help set-up, staff, and take-down the on-campus display of memorial tombstones for the unhoused. Email MBennett@scu.edu to help out.

• Mobile Showers – Volunteer on the 4th Thursday of each month. Email unhousedinitiative@scu.edu for more info or click here to sign up!

Planning a Donation Drive? Partner With the UI!

Is your club or department planning a donation drive this year? The UI would love to help you plan, promote and connect with a local organization in need of supplies!

Please contact us at unhousedinitiative@scu.edu to coordinate!

Fall Events

Save the date for these upcoming events:

• Oct. 26-Nov. 20 – Confronting the Homelessness Crisis through Art display in the University Library featuring pieces by local artists with lived experience of homelessness.
• Oct. 29/30 – Memorial for the Unhoused on the Santa Clara Mall. More details soon!
• Oct. 29 – Lecture by artist and activist Art Hazelwood. More details to come!
• Nov. 5, 10:30a.m. via Zoom – Presentation by San Diego County’s Homeless Court Program & the American Bar Association. For more information, email MBennett@scu.edu.

Further Reading …

Articles, podcasts and news related to the homelessness crisis publish nearly every day. Below are stories we recommend.

• SCU College of Arts & Sciences – Encampment Sweeps: A Call for Reform (& related video)
• Thurgood Marshall Institue: Locked Up, Locked Out: The Racialized Cycle of Criminalization & Homelessness
• Brian Barth – Front Street: Resistance and Rebirth in the Tent Cities of Techlandia (also available at your public library)

The Unhoused Initiative is supported by the Deans of the College of Arts & Sciences & School of Law, Destination: Home SV and private gift funds.