NLCU: Local Solutions to Homelessness

Course Description

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex factors driving homelessness in U.S. cities and explore evidence-based solutions to create meaningful change in your community. This course is specifically designed for local leaders seeking to develop and implement effective solutions. 

This five-week course features five virtual learning sessions led by a facilitator with expertise in homelessness, public health and evaluations. You can also leverage weekly office hours to gain expert insights into addressing homelessness in your community.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to

• Identify the primary driver of homelessness: Understand that the fundamental cause of homelessness is the shortage of affordable housing. 
• Distinguish individual vulnerabilities from root causes: Recognize how individual vulnerabilities (e.g., mental health, substance use, adverse childhood experiences) increase the risk of homelessness but are not the root cause. 
• Recognize disparities in homelessness: Due to longstanding racial discrimination, Black, Hispanic or Latino/a/x, and Indigenous people are disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness than white Americans.  
• Evaluate effective solutions: Learn and assess the most impactful solutions and strategies for addressing and ending homelessness in their communities. 

Course Instructor

Sara Shuman

She is an Associate Research Professor with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) at the University of Arizona. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from Temple University and has over 10-years of community-based experience in community-based research, program planning, and evaluation. Dr. Shuman’s work uses mixed-methods, qualitative methods, and participatory approaches to reduce homelessness and improve the health of individuals, families, and communities. She is interested in policy-relevant and actionable research. She is currently working on projects to better understand what works house people living in homeless encampments, the impact of flexible funds to prevent homelessness, and how physical activity opportunities can improve the health of people incarcerated in jails. Sara is also part of the Arizona Housing Analytics Collaborative (AzHAC), a tri-university research project focused on using data analysis and translation to prevent and reduce homelessness across Arizona.