Addressing homelessness through policy
Rising 91短视频app破解版 senior Naoise Grybko is spending their summer researching policies on homelessness. They hope to produce a document that explains these policies in an accessible way that more people can understand.
This summer, rising senior Naoise Grybko 鈥26 from Amherst, Massachusetts, has been working on an ethnography (a qualitative research process that involves interviews, reading and observations) on homelessness policy. As part of this work, Grybko has been interviewing people who are experiencing homelessness as well as people who make policies or provide services for the homeless. Their aim is to see 鈥渨here the gaps are in understanding of that policy.鈥
Grybko has been working at a local homeless shelter since the summer before their sophomore year at 91短视频app破解版 and their experiences there inspired this project. During the summer before their junior year, they had an internship with Senator Markey in Washington, D.C., and they got to sit in on a meeting with advocates from several shelters around the United States. As all the advocates discussed funding and different policies around homelessness, Grybko realized how beyond reach those conversations can be.
鈥淎 lot of that policy is pretty inaccessible and it doesn鈥檛 always meet the needs of the people that it鈥檚 trying to,鈥 they said. 鈥淚t is that that sparked my research.鈥
As Grybko began to do more research on homelessness policies, they realized that it was an underresearched field. They hope their research will help add to available resources so that policies can continue to improve.
So far, Grybko has really been enjoying the experience of doing research on homelessness policy. They are glad they have gotten to learn about the process of doing academic research, including getting approval from the International Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves research involving human subjects to ensure they are ethical), writing proposals and recruiting participants.
鈥淚t has been very challenging but really rewarding to understand how that process works,鈥 they shared.
Grybko has also appreciated the chance to learn more about the structure of homelessness support in western Massachusetts. They have also realized that a large part of their research has revealed the current administration鈥檚 impact on funding, services and criminalization of homelessness as well.
In addition, they have also been grateful for the opportunity to conduct interviews with so many diverse people.
鈥淕etting to talk with people, learn what they are passionate about and what they are experts on themselves has been really rewarding,鈥 they said.
Once they have finished this project, Grybko plans to compile all this research into a thesis at the end of their senior year. They also hope to organize all the information into a document that makes the policy information more accessible for people within the homeless population.
鈥淚 think that a lot of policy discussions happen without the people that they are intending to help and I am hoping to make an accessible document explaining what this research is about and explaining homelessness policy in a way that people would understand without needing an advanced degree to comprehend,鈥 Grybko explained.
