Portland State Magazine Winter 2019

15 to make the issue known and to push for more affordable student housing.” That’s the kind of practical approach the new collaborative will take in the broader community. Faculty are already working with state and local governments, including contracts with Clackamas and Multnomah counties to identify who’s homeless and why in an effort to find ways to help. The collaborative also has attracted the attention of philanthropic leaders, who have pledged nearly $1 million to support the center’s activities. As a psychologist, Townley has done lots of work examining the mental health side of homelessness, but the center's focus as a whole is much broader. Its director, Marisa Zapata, is an urban planner who specializes in using land in socially just ways. Other faculty include Sergio Palleroni and Todd Ferry from the School of Architecture, who have designed alternative shelter communi- ties; English professor Maude Hines, who is looking into ways to combat negative narratives about homelessness; Lisa Hawash from the School of Social Work, who is researching ways to improve hygiene facilities for people experiencing homelessness; Paula Carder from the OHSU-PSU School of Pub- lic Health, whose work focuses on housing for older adults; and Jacen Greene, director of Impact Entrepreneurs at The School of Business, who specializes in social enterprise approaches to job training and employment. “We’re all very collaborative,” Townley says. “Hopefully, the solution to homelessness is nearer than we think.”  John Kirkland is a staff member in the PSU Office of University Communications. Understanding home- lessness requires getting away from the assump- tions many people have about the homeless popu- lation—that addiction and mental illness are the root causes. It’s much more complicated than that.