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Permanent, supportive housing for people with a history of homelessness is often a first step toward regaining stability in other life areas, but such housing may not always feel like “home.” Whether supportive housing feels like “home” has received increasing attention due to links with positive identity reconstruction, housing stability, and improved community engagement. This qualitative study explored what makes supportive housing feel like “home” for individuals who were once homeless. Semi-structured interviews were completed among 37 adults with physical and/or psychiatric disabilities who were currently living in congregate or independent permanent housing in Boston, Massachusetts. Three themes emerged regarding what makes housing feel like “home”: (a) safe spaces, (b) connections to “regular stuff” and past occupations, and (c) agency to choose and pursue personal goals. Feelings of “home” were associated with a safe, peaceful environment where participants preferred to spend time in solitary activities. However, housing that felt like “home” also provided a base to engage in daily routines and community activities, reconnecting participants to “everyday things people do.” Findings are interpreted related to constructing a new, nonhomeless identity, and current issues of social isolation and limited community integration affecting individuals who were once homeless.

This study investigated 1) trauma symptom changes following the implementation of a life skills intervention; 2) the relationship between demographic characteristics, cognitive functioning, life skill knowledge and changes in trauma symptoms; and 3) predictive factors of trauma symptoms during housing transitions. Participants (N=72) enrolled in intervention modules to increase residential stability (room and self-care, money management, nutrition management or safe community participation), completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, ACLS-2000 and a Practical Skills Test at baseline, post-intervention and 3 and 6 months later to examine differences in trauma symptoms and treatment outcomes. Trauma symptoms were highest at baseline and decreased significantly for most participants over time. For a subgroup of females experiencing abuse and individuals who were homeless less than 1 year, there was an increase in symptoms at 3 months post-intervention (highest rate of housing transition). This small convenience sample represents a limited geographic area. Replication of the study with larger groups for generalization, and further investigation into the specific impact of symptoms on function were recommended for future research.

Measures of community integration rely on self-report assessments that often quantify physical or social participation, but fail to capture the individual׳s spatial presence in the community. The current study documents the activity space, or area of daily experiences, of 37 individuals who were once homeless through participatory mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Contrary to expectations, there was no significant relationship between activity space size and community integration measures, except a negative association with physical integration. Further analysis revealed, however, that continued use of homeless services, geographically spread throughout the city, was associated with larger activity space size, but may be counterproductive to social and psychological integration efforts. Analysis of the types of locations identified revealed high importance given to leisure locations and ongoing involvement with medical and mental health locations. Finally, community integration outcomes did not differ significantly by demographics or housing type, but rather degree of family involvement and feeling like home, factors that may have more potential for change.

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