Join SHEP

Eye 4 Equity Project

Our unhoused neighbors face extensive barriers to receiving eye care and accessing glasses. This project centers around running monthly clinics that connect unhoused individuals to free eyeglasses and local resources to receive an eyeglass prescription. We partner with three community organizations to host three clinics per month in Mountain View, San Jose, and Milpitas.

We are looking for students with a passion for health equity, a sense of humility and empathy, and enthusiasm for improving eye care access. Undergraduate and graduate students with weekend availability are encouraged to fill out the application linked below. Medical students apply here.

Community Partners: U.E.O, Neighborhood Hands, Hope for the Unhoused

Project Leads: Riya Ramakrishnan (UG): riyar23@stanford.edu

Ideal Skills & Experience: 

• A passion for health equity
• A sense of humility and empathy
• Interest and enthusiasm for eye care equity
• Saturday or Sunday availability

Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: Flexible,  5-10 hours/per week

S-HOP

The Stanford Homelessness Outreach Project (S-HOP) partners with local community organizations to distribute harm reduction products, hygiene kits, and sexual and menstrual health products to unhoused individuals.

Project Objectives

• Provide accessible, on-the-spot health services such as flu vaccines, blood pressure checks, blood sugar screenings, and diabetic foot checks.
• Distribute harm reduction, safe sex, and basic care kits to promote safety, hygiene, and well-being.
• Offer wrap-around support by connecting individuals with community resources and services.
• Build strong partnerships with local organizations to expand the reach and impact of our clinics.

Recovery Incentives Project

We're currently hiring for a paid, part-time project manager position -- please apply here by Wednesday, 10/15!

We're developing an approach to support and improve substance use care for unhoused clients, partnering with LifeMoves, the largest provider of shelter services in Silicon Valley. LifeMoves estimates that 70% of their clients have untreated substance use disorders, which often poses a major barrier to securing and keeping housing. We've designed and developed a "Recovery Incentives" program across 4 shelter sites, which has enrolled about 110 clients in a contingency management treatment approach — where clients receive monetary incentives for engaging in substance use counseling services and for negative urine drug tests. The program is actively enrolling, and we are working with San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to scale this approach to improve treatment engagement and positive health behaviors. 

We’re actively looking for support in program implementation, research and evaluation, and policy outreach! Folks with qualitative and quantitative research expertise are especially welcomed.

Project Objectives:

• Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of program
• Program development

Community Partners: LifeMoves Shelter Sites [Various Locations across the Bay Area], Recovery Services organizations (El Centro de Libertad, Caminar)

Project Lead: Tony Liu (txliu@stanford.edu)

Ideal Skills & Experience: Qualitative (ethnographic) and quantitative (data analyses of populations over time)

Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: flexible, no more than 10 hours per week. Remote work options.

Additional Info: This San Francisco Chronicle article highlights our 2023–24 Recovery Incentives pilot through the story of a Montgomery Street Inn client.

UEO Direct Service

Interested in serving on the frontlines of the housing crisis? Gain first hand experience supporting our neighbors’  path to secure long term, safe housing by supporting United Efforts Organization’s approach to community led case management. Join UEO at Hope's Corner in Mountain View on Saturday mornings from 8am to 10:30am. Over time you will have the opportunity to lead clients’ search for housing and other essential benefits. 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/wk, 10 week (1 quarter) commitment minimum

Partner: The United Effort Organization (UEO)

Project Leads: Ann Vu (antvu@stanford.edu)

Project Objectives:

• Longitudinal mentoring of students to take on case management roles within UEO, working one-on-one with clients
• Remote volunteering: housing searches, record clearances, data auditing
• Time commitment: 2 hours/week, flexible and self-determined
• Great opportunity for students wanting more in depth, extensive experience with volunteering and client-oriented work

MED 219/MED 139

MED 139: Child and Family Health Explore how children and families build resilience in the face of adversity. Learn how social supports—friendships, mentors, and community programs—help protect children and strengthen families. The course highlights the role of community partners in supporting vulnerable populations. 

Contact: Saumya Sao (MS2) | ssao@stanford.edu

MED 219: Navigating the Housing Crisis Examine the causes and impacts of housing inequity and develop strategies for community-based solutions. Through classroom learning and service with The United Effort Organization, students gain hands-on experience in benefits navigation, case management, and centering the voices of unhoused individuals. 

Contact: Talha Rao | talharao@stanford.edu

Health EDU

Health EDU focuses on making high-quality health education accessible, specifically focusing on maternal, adolescent, reproductive, and sexual health (MARSH). We are accomplishing this by: 1) training and fostering a community of health educators at Stanford by providing MD/PA students with stigma-busting education that is not part of our core curriculum (e.g., trauma-informed care practices, emergency contraception myths), 2) conducting health education workshops at community partners in the Bay, 3) developing educational resources and bringing patient education to uninsured patient populations, and 4) bridging gaps between Stanford and the Bay via service opportunities.

Project Director:

Saumya Sao (MS2): ssao@stanford.edu 

Instagram: @healthedu.stanford

Website: https://healthedu.site/ 

Housing Justice Conference

The Stanford Housing Equity Project Conference Team is responsible for organizing an annual housing conference that brings together an interdisciplinary group of experts in local, state, and national programs and initiatives. The conference aims to curate a unique environment for knowledge-sharing and strategy-building to inspire action within the Stanford community and surrounding communities to advance housing justice. 

We are actively recruiting students who are interested in helping organize the 2026 Housing Conference. 

Project Director: Hannah Lee: hnhlee@stanford.edu

Partner organizations: Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Palo Alto Renters’ Association, LESAR Development Consultants, LifeMoves, Stanford Medicine, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, sv@home, Destination: Home, The United Effort Organization, Good City Company, Palo Alto Forward, Fondo de Solidaridad de Mountain View, Faith in Action Bay Area, LEABsv.

How to get involved: Here is a document with details about the Conference Director and committee roles for the upcoming Housing Summit, as well as a list of speakers from the Spring 2025 Summit to give a sense of past programming.

Training Volunteer Case Managers

United Efforts Organization (U.E.O.) is a 501(c) non-profit fully operated by volunteers (many with backgrounds in law, medicine, and social work) and dedicated to assisting unhoused individuals navigate systemic barriers. U.E.O. offers intensive case management every week to dozens of clients who utilize food pantry/shower services at Hopes’ Corner (Mountainview, California) and RV residents throughout the Bay Area.

Community Partner: U.E.O

Project Leads: Soneida (Sonni) Deline Caballero (soneida@stanford.edu)

Project Objectives:

• Develop training materials to streamline the training of case manager volunteers at UEO and various partner organizations/groups

Ideal Skills & Experience: Prior experience as a case manager with UEO or similar organizations (highly encouraged)

Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: Flexible,  5-10 hours/per week

Equitable Housing & Climate Resilience Project

We’re learning how communities can effectively resist gentrification and displacement outcomes from capitalization of urban greenspaces (e.g. community gardens, recreational parks, and urban forestry). Urban greenspaces are growing increasingly popular for their environmental benefits such as urban cooling, flood mitigation, and improved air quality. However, they’re also attractive for the housing market; developers, property owners, and real estate often capitalize upon the visual aesthetics of green spaces, gentrifying communities that are in urgent need of climate resilience.

To help cultivate equitable housing and environmental access, we’re conducting international focus group interviews with different organizations (e.g. municipal government, research non-profit, environmental law) to learn how different communities and community partners are mobilizing against gentrification. We’re also conducting a spatial analysis demonstrating the efficacy of different preventative strategies that will be helpful for partners both here in the Bay and beyond.

Project Objectives:

• Complete focus group interviews
• Prepare spatial analysis study (i.e. identify sites to spatially analyze)

Ideal Skills and Experience:

• Recruitment of interview participants
• Conducting focus group interviews
• Thematic analysis

Relevant Works: Here’s one model for how community members can participate in/lead greenspace planning. And here are some grassroot strategies that have been effective for preventing gentrification.

Project Director: Mavis Stone (mvstone@stanford.edu)

Permanent Supportive Housing Health Outcomes

The Principal Investigator and co-Founder of VHHP, Dr. Cheryl Ho, conducted a research survey assessing the health and wellness of individuals living in Permanent Supportive Housing properties in San Jose. Dr. Ho is requesting support in going to speak with formerly unhoused individuals who are now in permanent housing to ask about changes in their health.

Commitment: 3 hrs/wk (typically not across consecutive weeks); Minimum two quarter commitment

Partners: Valley Homeless Healthcare Program, Dr. Cheryl Ho, & PSH Complexes in San Jose 

Project Leads: Mike Mayer (mmayer@stanford.edu), Soneida (Sonni) Deline Caballero (soneida@stanford.edu), Kerrigan Hall (kando18@stanford.edu)

Ideal Skills & Experience: No prior research experience required (transportation to housing sites can be arranged)

Harm Reduction Expansion

The relationship between substance use and homelessness is both causal and consequential. There is a critical need to expand best practices in supporting unhoused individuals struggling with substance use disorders, access care and harm reduction measures.

See here for full project description

Community Partner: LifeMoves, Santa Clara County

Project Lead: Soneida "Sonni" Deline Caballero (soneida@stanford.edu)

Project Objectives: 

• Conduct needs assessment amongst LifeMoves staff/residents/Overdose Prevention Team
• Partner with Santa Clara County Harm Reduction Efforts
• Evaluate and research current best practices in harm reduction (i.e. Narcan training, fentanyl test strips, etc) across different shelter sites in the Bay Area
• Implement feedback and/or new best practices

Ideal Skills & Experience: Prior experience working with county/regional organizations. Prior experience managing harm reduction projects or research highly encouraged.

Estimated Weekly Time Commitment: flexible,  5-10 hours/per week