USC's homelessness initiative
Our partners
USC Housing Los Angeles brings together research centers, clinical programs, and student organizations from across the university. Here is who is involved and what each of them is working on right now.
Research Centers
The centers producing the surveys, counts, and reports that tell Los Angeles what is actually happening.
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Public Exchange
Connects public and private decision-makers with USC research capacity, running applied projects on food insecurity, environmental health, and homelessness prevention.
What they are working on
- Recently published an article in Wellbeing, Space and Society exploring self-storage facilities as sentinel spaces for community stress and mental health. Read the study ↗
- Partnered with 10 self-storage facilities in Arizona to pilot these sites as places to intervene and prevent homelessness. 86% of staff reported using outreach materials on a weekly or monthly basis.
- Building an expansion of this self-storage work, bringing it to Los Angeles County. Stay tuned for more developments.
- A key partner for LA County's Office of Food Systems, with continuing research and publication on food insecurity across LA. Food insecurity in LA County ↗
- Helped build the Food Base LA dashboard, using public and consumer data to understand patterns, opportunities, and risks across the LA County food supply system. Open the dashboard ↗
USC Dornsife
Center for Economic and Social Research
Home of the Understanding America Study and LABarometer, CESR runs the longitudinal survey research that tracks how Angelenos are actually living.
What they are working on
- LABarometer published its 2025 findings, continuing longitudinal survey research that has been in operation since 2019, covering livability, affordability, and well-being, with specific attention to the LA wildfires and immigration enforcement actions. Latest LABarometer findings ↗
- Upcoming papers on how the 2025 LA wildfires affected mental health, and on attitudes around water use.
- The next LABarometer deployment goes out in August, with Spring 2027 planned to research timely issues and current events. Researchers interested in adding questions on timely issues are invited to reach out.
- Contributed research and analysis to the 2026 SOLACHAN report, alongside HPRI.
USC Price School of Public Policy · Lusk Center
Neighborhood Data for Social Change
An open data platform and research program documenting neighborhood conditions across Los Angeles County, and the lead author of the annual SOLACHAN report.
What they are working on
- Partnered with First 5 LA on research focused on housing instability among children, coming out later this summer.
- Helping administer the Lusk Center's Ross Program for Real Estate, an executive education and finance program intended to increase the number of developers of color in Los Angeles, run twice per year as an intensive four weeks. Program & applications ↗
- For the second consecutive year, led the collaborative effort to build the annual SOLACHAN report, and is planning the August launch event.
USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Homelessness Policy Research Institute
HPRI has convened groups across Los Angeles, and beyond, to discuss issues related to homelessness for nearly a decade. It now brings that expertise home to lead the USC Housing LA initiative at the university.
What they are working on
- Piloted a first-ever summer fellowship for high school students interested in housing and homelessness. It is a six-week hybrid learning experience covering homelessness research, housing policy, public health, social work, data, field learning, and community engagement.
- H3E, HPRI's research center, has completed another year operating the Los Angeles Homeless Count. The 2026 results will be released later this month.
- Contributed research and analysis to the 2026 SOLACHAN report, alongside CESR.
Programs & Clinical Care
Work that meets people where they are: on the street, and in the systems meant to serve them.
Keck School of Medicine of USC
USC Street Medicine
Brings health care directly to people living unsheltered in Los Angeles, meeting patients where they are rather than waiting for them to reach a clinic.
USC Viterbi School of Engineering & USC Social Work
Center for AI and Society
Applies artificial intelligence to social problems, including work on housing allocation, outreach, and services for people experiencing homelessness.
Student Organizations
Student-run efforts putting housing and benefits directly into the hands of people who need them.
Trojan Shelter
A student-run shelter in Koreatown offering deeply discounted housing to college students aged 18 to 26 across the LA area, not just USC students.
What they are working on
- Looking for residents for the upcoming Fall and Spring semesters. The six-bed shelter is open to enrolled students aged 18 to 26, who pay a deeply discounted rate for the academic year. Resident application ↗
- Also looking for volunteers to help keep the shelter and food pantry running smoothly. Get in touch if you are interested.
Project Lux
Student volunteers who help people apply for the benefits they are entitled to, such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and cash assistance, at the LA Mission.
What they are working on
- Staffed a table at the LA Mission three times per week during the 2025 to 2026 academic year, processing benefits applications for resources like Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and cash transfer.
- Student volunteers enrolled more than 300 clients, and the work continues throughout the upcoming academic year.
Working on housing or homelessness at USC and not listed here? USC Housing Los Angeles is meant to hold all of it. tell us about your work and we will add you.