Unsheltered Homelessness Projects

Unsheltered Public Land Stewards

In previous research affiliated with the SPARC Environmental Justice Lab, unsheltered community members have shared that they consider themselves stewards of public lands. In this project, students interview unsheltered individuals about their relationship with public land and their identities as stewards.

Rose, J. (2019). Unsheltered Homelessness in Urban Parks: Perspectives on Environment, Health, and Justice in Salt Lake City, Utah. Environmental Justice, 12. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2018.0023.

Environmental Disamenities & Homelessness

Human waste and intravenous needles are often associated with homeless encampments yet there is very little direct evidence of the prevalence and concentration of these disamenities. Researchers are involved in observation and training around these phenomena.  These data will be used to inform policy and broader narratives around the environmental justice aspects of unsheltered homelessness.

Urban Unsheltered Homelessness

Salt Lake City has faced increasing numbers of visible open encampments in downtown  core. These encampments are characterized by uneven enforcement and displacements from legal and health department authorities. This is an ongoing project to map these encampments and understand their spatial and temporal dynamics and the factors that underpin this complex issue.  Students in this project will research the dates of displacement events to determine how they may have impacted encampment locations over a two-year period.