BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS TO ADDRESS HEALTH AND HOMELESSNESS
About the Center
Founded in 2024 with a lead gift from the Henson family, the Center on Health and Homelessness at the Georgia State University School of Public Health brings faculty, staff, students, and community partners together to conduct research and implement evidence-based interventions that address homelessness as a public health issue.
Our areas of focus include:
- Research, education, policy and best practices to prevent and effectively intervene on an array of determinants and consequences of homelessness
- The development of effective, integrated interventions that address the multiple causes and perpetuators of homelessness and poor health
- The design and implementation of a unified, collaborative system to address homelessness using an interdisciplinary partnership model that links academic research with practice
Our People
Faculty
Staff
Students
Kelsey Boreland
Kelsey Boreland is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at the Georgia State University School of Public Health.
Viktoriya Landar
Viktoriya Landar is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
Alyssa Millikin
Alyssa Millikin is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at the Georgia State University School of Public Health.
Our Approach
The Center on Health and Homelessness strives to facilitate research, education, policy and best practices to prevent and effectively intervene on the determinants and consequences of homelessness. To do so, we use a combined framework of the Collective Impact Model, Transformative Paradigm and the Community Readiness Model to guide our research and actions.
Collective Impact
Collective Impact utilizes a place-based, cross-sector systems approach to tackle persistent social issues. This model emphasizes collaboration, the centralization of information and monitoring progress through mutually reinforcing activities and shared metrics. Through the engagement of researchers, service providers, individuals with lived experience and local government agencies, the model supports our goal of developing a shared agenda to examine and improve the homeless-serving system.
Transformation Paradigm
The Transformation Paradigm provides a framework for addressing inequality and injustice through culturally competent, mixed methods research. Using a participatory action approach, the paradigm positions researchers and community members as co-researchers, sharing knowledge and co-creating solutions. The goal is to empower communities to actively shape their society, ensuring research not only identifies issues but also fosters transformative change.
Community Readiness Model
The Community Readiness Model emphasizes that successful change depends on a community’s willingness and ability to adopt new solutions. This approach guides strategic planning to build the readiness needed for a collaborative effort to address homelessness.