Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Homelessness Hub and what do you do?
A: The Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego is a research hub engaging in applied, community-partnered research. We organize and produce data and analyses for use by researchers, students, policymakers, elected officials, business leaders, service providers, stakeholders, and community members.
For more information about our values and vision, please refer to our About Us page. Please take a look through our Research tabs to learn more about specific projects that we have completed in the past or are currently working on.
Q: How can I get involved with Homelessness Hub?
A: Check out our Get Involved page, where you can stay informed about the current work of homelessness organizations, learn about homelessness oriented classes at UC San Diego if you are a student, and find service groups to volunteer with.
We also have a Homelessness Hub mailing list, which we use to send out newsletters to periodically update our community regarding current projects. Being a part of the mailing list also includes invitations to events held by the Homelessness Hub.
Sign up for our mailing list here, and read up on our previous newsletter at the bottom of our engagement page here. For general inquiries, please email us at homelessnesshub@ucsd.edu .
Q: Do you offer resources for people who are unstably housed or experiencing homelessness?
A: As a research lab we do not offer resources or case management.
If you are a UC San Diego student and are facing housing or food challenges, please contact the Basic Needs Hub on campus. If you live in San Diego County and are looking for resources you can contact 211 San Diego as a starting point. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Q: Who else has information about homelessness in San Diego?
A: Listed below are resources offered by city, county, and non-profit agencies where you can find links to a variety of different downloadable data and dashboards
Q: Can Homelessness Hub researchers help me or my organization with research?
Yes! Our research team works with community organizations and individuals in multiple ways. For example, our multi-year evaluation of the Jewish Family Service Safe Parking Program (SPP) grew out of questions JFS had about the effectiveness of their program. More recently, we built the San Diego County Homeless Emergency Bed Dashboard for the Lucky Duck Foundation.
Because Homelessness Hub is self-funded, we enter paid contract agreements to evaluate programs, build data dashboards, or build mobile apps. This work is funded, either by the organization, through grant funds raised by our team in collaboration with organizations, or through philanthropy. If you are interested in hiring our team or working to apply for research funding with us, please reach out to homelessnesshub@ucsd.edu.