Social Justice Manifest: A University–Community Partnership to Promote the Individual Right to Housing

Abstract

This article examines an ongoing university–community relationship that fuses innovative technology delivery, university-outreach research, and social work practice/research education into a unique, collaborative intervention to reduce homelessness. In doing so, we apply a social justice framework to homelessness, arguing that housing is a right rather than a privilege. In the case study, a university, in partnership with a local homeless coalition, maintains a management information system to collect and analyze real-time data on homelessness in the community. The overarching social justice intention of this partnership is to improve client outcomes for homeless individuals by producing community-based research to inform policy decisions for governmental and organizational partners.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David A. Patterson

David A. Patterson is professor at the University of Tennessee.

Courtney Cronley

Courtney Cronley is assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Stacia West

Stacia West is a doctoral student at the University of Kansas.

Jennifer Lantz

Jennifer Lantz is director at the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.