Graduation Year

2026

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

School or Department

Public and Community Health Sciences

Major

Public Health

Faculty Mentor Department

Public Administration and Policy

Faculty Mentor

Hannah Zuraff

Keywords

Missoula, Houseless, Stigma, Meet Your Neighbor, Engagement

Subject Categories

Nonprofit Studies

Abstract

Within the last three years, Missoula, Montana, has developed a culture of pervasive, systemic, and negative actions against people experiencing houselessness. The transition from funding multi-tiered approaches, including encampments, shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing, has been replaced by decreased resource availability and the over-funded Ordinance 12.60, which enforces fines and misdemeanors on anyone unsheltered and experiencing houselessness. At the root of this public sentiment is stigma, which manifests itself at all levels of the socio-ecological system and negatively impacts the health, housing, employment, social, mental, and physical outcomes of people experiencing houselessness. To combat stigma, Meet Your Neighbor is a program that seeks to foster online and in-person education, storytelling, and relationship-building engagement with community members and people experiencing houselessness. Through a combination of consistent, cohesive, and engaging online strategies, along with in-person events and activities that bring together both housed and unhoused neighbors, this program expects to see an increase in the participation of nonprofit organizations serving people experiencing houselessness as a measure of stigma reduction. The socio-ecological model, intervention mapping, theory of reasoned action, intergroup contact hypothesis, peer-reviewed studies, similar non-profit strategies, and news articles have guided this program proposal’s creation and perspective. The program’s development of increased online and in-person positive interactions is anticipated to result in systemic reductions of stigma, contributing to better overall outcomes for people experiencing houselessness.

Honors College Research Project

1

GLI Capstone Project

no

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© Copyright 2026 Victoria K. Hausman