For Sonia Harris, a Master of Social Work student at the University of Minnesota, research has never been just about numbers, charts, or reports. It’s about people—especially those too often pushed to the margins. As a Hennepin-University Partnership (HUP) Evaluation Assistant, Sonia led a year-long, qualitative evaluation of Streets to Housing, Hennepin County’s program designed to help unsheltered individuals and families move into permanent housing. From day one, Sonia knew this project wasn’t going to be a top-down analysis. It would be relational, reflective, and rooted in the lived experiences of both clients and the staff who serve them.
“We interviewed 22 program participants, both staff and clients, to understand their perspective of the program, specifically what's working well and what could be improved,” Sonia explained. “The opportunity to work in partnership with community members reinforced for me the necessity for community engaged work.”
A Humanizing Approach to Systems Change
Launched in 2022, Streets to Housing was Hennepin County’s response to a growing crisis: the rise in unsheltered homelessness. The program meets people where they are—prioritizing street outreach and removing barriers for people to access help—and supports them as they navigate complex systems to secure stable housing. There are no preconditions. No hoops to jump through. Just a commitment to trauma-informed, person-centered support.
Sonia’s evaluation focused on uncovering how this commitment plays out on the ground. Through recorded and de-identified interviews, she and her partners analyzed themes that emerged from the conversations: strengths like a humanizing approach, deep system knowledge, and genuine community-based referrals. At the same time, participants highlighted areas for growth—like the need for clearer communication, more transparency around assessments, and greater consistency in follow-up.
Co-Creation in Action
Sonia didn’t work alone. The evaluation was a collaboration with Hennepin County staff and members of the Lived Experience Advisory Group, a group of community members who have experienced homelessness themselves. Their involvement ensured that the evaluation was not just about community, but with community.
Now, her findings—and the community voices behind them—are being used to shape how the Streets to Housing program evolves. The report’s recommendations are clear: invest in leadership, improve training and data practices, foster inter-program collaboration, and support long-term client engagement.
“I hope that the qualitative results and recommendation inform future positive programmatic changes as well as reinforce the strengths of the program,” she reflected. “Additionally, I hope that HUP continues to grow their efforts to center community engagement as part of this evaluation assistantship.”
In a world that often treats policy as impersonal and systems as immovable, Sonia Harris’s work reminds us that evaluation—done right—can be a form of care. And from care, community, and collaboration, transformation becomes possible.