KCRG produces story on CSRI homeless research

Allison Krull ’20 is working with Willis Dady Homeless Services, using her research skills to make a difference in the community this summer. She’s focusing her time studying Linn County’s Community Overflow Weather Shelter System (COWSS).

KCRG-TV9 produced a story on her research, which aired Monday, June 25.

COWSS is a collaborative effort of over 15 agencies that provide shelter during the bitterly cold nights of winter, helping numerous homeless individuals since 2015. 

Krull is taking an in-depth look at the data that has been collected about the program. She’s cleaning up that data and analyzing it to help the community partners gain a better understanding of the population seeking emergency winter shelter.

The community partners of this research hope that this project will aid them in understanding the extent of chronic homelessness locally, identify ways to meet the needs of the homeless, and assess, evaluate, improve, and standardize the intake and data collection process at COWSS.

Krull is supervised by Cornell College Associate Professor of Sociology Tori Barnes-Brus. This is the third summer Cornell students have teamed up with Willis Dady. During the summer of 2017 CSRI students studied and worked with homeless youth. Last summer the community-based research focused on the path of eviction and increasing the awareness of homelessness through videos and social media.