Our Work
We have a slate of ongoing projects with community partners working on homelessness. Our projects tap into Stanford's expertise and resources to plug gaps that community partners face in programing and resources. All our projects stem from community partner needs that we identify through extensive conversations. Our model of impact follows 4 steps:

Project Showcase: Helping develop a substance abuse treatment program with LifeMoves
Partner: LifeMoves
Substance abuse is one of the biggest obstacles to unhoused individuals transitioning into permanent housing.
In collaboration with LifeMoves and substance use recovery counseling agencies (Caminar and El Centro), our team has built the Recovery Incentives program: spanning four LifeMoves shelters to support clients going through substance use care, using research-backed contingency management protocols. By offering positive reinforcements to clients for consistently engaging in substance use counseling, the program has boosted engagement in recovery services across shelters and helped some clients manage their substance use and enter stable housing.
You can learn more about the impact of this work on helping clients work towards recovery in this 2024 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. This work has been supported by grants from Stanford's Office of Community Engagement.
Leading up to the Recovery Incentives program, we spent a great deal of time understanding client and staff needs at shelters. By tapping on Stanford's medical expertise, our team created and administered a comprehensive substance use assessment. The goal of the assessment is to guide substance-use related conversations with clients to generate referrals and motivate engagement with programs supporting behavioral health. The assessment was developed in consultation with LifeMoves case managers and medical literature (e.g. the DSM V criteria). Subsequently, the Stanford team worked on delivering the assessment at a shelter site. We hope that the data collected can inform the incredible work that the LifeMoves team is doing.
Other projects
Visit our Join Us page to view a detailed list of our current projects. Some of our ongoing projects include:
- Improving case notes for a high-intensity case management program and integrating it into their workflow. Partner: LifeMoves
- Writing and advocacy to raise awareness on homelessness. Partner: LifeMoves
- Developing a training and recruiting plan for volunteer case managers. Partner: The United Effort
- Organizing a voter registration drive for unhoused individuals. Partner: LifeMoves
- And several others!