About The Center on Housing and Homelessness Research
A Resource on Issues Related to Housing Security
The Center on Housing and Homelessness Research (CHHR) provides scientifically-supported research, evaluation, training, technical assistance and community assessments on issues related to housing security and homelessness. We partner with community stakeholders and contract with city and state governments, local and regional organizations and nonprofits to improve the health and well-being of people living in poverty and experiencing homelessness.
Our work includes program evaluation, community assessments, policy analysis and more.
Our Vision and Values
Our vision is that through our work, people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness will be empowered to live full lives of their choosing.
- We believe that everyone deserves a home and access to needed services.
- We seek the voice and contributions of individuals experiencing homelessness — or at risk of homelessness — in all aspects of our work.
- We engage in data-driven research, policy and practice.
- We commit to sharing our learnings with the community and others in the field to improve the lives of our neighbors.
Founder and Advisor Donald W. Burnes
Donald W. Burnes, PhD, is the founder of the Burnes Center (now The Center on Housing and Homelessness Research) at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. He has served on the Colorado State Interagency Advisory Group on Homelessness and the Colorado Housing and Homelessness Funders Collaborative. He has also been an executive director for various nonprofits, a historian, a researcher and educational policy consultant for the U.S. Congress, a prolific writer, a philanthropic consultant, and an active student of and policy analyst around issues of homelessness and poverty for more than 30 years.
Making a Collective Impact
GSSW faculty, staff and students are tackling issues related to migration, sustainability, crime and safety, and housing and food insecurity as part of University of Denver Collective Impact Cohort.
A Novel Research Method
With her dissertation research, PhD grad Jennifer Wilson has developed a new way to rapidly study social innovations like tiny home villages for people experiencing homelessness, identifying priority specifications to successfully replicate and scale the intervention.
