All members of Homeless HEAL participate in a project that allows them to further connect with the homeless and underserved community in San Diego. Here are our current projects and their respective descriptions:

Interorganizational Mentorship Program

The program is focused on creating mentor-mentee relationships between members within the organization. We have a diverse group of knowledge and experiences and want to foster relationships that can help members grow together.

Homeless Youth Tutoring Program

The goal of this project is to form a relationship with a shelter or organization that works with homeless youth. The group will then establish a tutoring program with the purpose of preparing homeless youth for their current classes as well as the future.

Community Kitchen Task Force

This project will develop a cooking class for the homeless community and plan how to implement the class when social distancing restrictions ease. The goal is to create a program that is accessible for the homeless community and includes advice and recipes that are realistic and attainable by the homeless community.

Homeless “Vital Sign” Research for Advocacy

This is a research project designed to eventually turn into advocacy for realistic solutions for systematic change to improve health care availability for homeless individuals. The project stems from the idea of having a homelessness vital sign that is checked when patients arrive. This idea as well as others like increasing numbers of patient centered medical homes, or the creation of education programs and more will be considered and researched.

San Diego Homeless Community Research

This project involves research into the history and current issues surrounding homelessness in the San Diego community. A second goal of this project is to use this information and COVID-19 related research to create a flyer that can be posted in the downtown community.

Homeless HEAL Social Night Planning Committee

This project involves planning a social night for our members as a way to build organizational cohesion and allow for a night of fun aside from school and work.

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Feminine Product and Diaper Drive

Resources available to homeless communities like hygiene products were previously low and in times of COVID-19 have become even more scarce. This group will be the planning committee for the upcoming fundraiser collecting donations or money for purchase of feminine products and/or diapers and wipes.

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Projects Initiative 2021-2022 Updates

Vital Sign Research Project

The goal of this research project is to research realistic policy changes to improve healthcare and access for those who experience homelessness and advocate their findings at the San Diego County level. This group is focusing on access to mental health care while the county focuses on “Housing First” initiatives. Progress is being made by communicating with members of local government and working on surveys that will be distributed to those who experience homelessness.

In the Fall 2021 quarter the group worked on getting in contact with committee members and other members of San Diego government to get more information on the housing first initiative and under-utilized resources like care homes. Funding has been a huge focus as the group navigates priorities in San Diego county, especially in regards to housing those that experience homelessness and caring for their other needs as well. Moving into Winter 2022, the group will finalize the survey they want to distribute to those that experience homelessness, seek IRB approval or exemption, and reach out to these communities to get more information on what resources are used and desired. The team will also work to put together a presentation to present their findings and future plans by the end of the school year.

San Diego Community Research Project

The purpose of this project is to do research on the history and current issues surrounding homelessness in the San Diego community. A secondary goal is to spread more information to those who experience homelessness and encourage COVID vaccination in this group.

Previously, the group has made progress to get more information from county officials, creating a poster to encourage vaccination, and creating surveys to get information from both those who experience homelessness and healthcare providers. Moving into Winter 2022, the group will finalize the survey they want to distribute to those that experience homelessness, seek IRB approval or exemption, and reach out to these communities to get more information on the current issues facing those that experience homelessness in San Diego County.

Homeless Youth Education Advocates Project

The mission of this project is to provide homeless youth with holistic resources that successfully equip and empower them to achieve their educational and personal goals. It is important to provide an equitable educational opportunity for youth who experience homelessness.

Previously, templates have been created to establish communication with shelters that cater to youth, and outlines for “Education Packets” have been made as a way to provide “hands-off” tutoring. Moving in Winter 2022, the group will finalize the first of its educational packets covering budgeting and community college, continue to work on other educational packets, and will work to transform the packets into online content.

Journal Club

The goal of this project is to create a professional powerpoint and presentation that gives a detailed background on a specific subgroup of people who experience homelessness in San Diego County. The group will work together to present information about background, social determinants, resource evaluation and more.

This project will finalize its presentation in Winter 2022, and present their findings of immigrants, asylees, and refugees and their relation to homelessness in San Diego County and the US.

Blanket Drive

For the second year in a row, the blanket drive group collected blankets and money to purchase blankets to distribute to those who experience homelessness in San Diego. The group also used the innovative idea of using an Amazon Registry to facilitate new blanket collection during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group was able to safely deliver 40 ($400) new blankets to those in need. The group also hopes to get more involved with companies in the community to increase donations in future drives.

We will be continuing fundraising drives in upcoming quarters, with a sock drive in Winter 2022, and our second feminine hygiene product drive.