SANTA CRUZ

Public invited to UCSC class on homelessness

The public is invited to eight upcoming sessions of a UC Santa Cruz class examining homelessness.

Although the class, which is a joint effort by Project Homeless Connect and the UCSC Sociology Department, is primarily geared to UCSC students, eight of the sessions will meet at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium's Tony Hill Room so members of the community can attend at no cost and join the discussion.

The courses will be facilitated by Mayor Don Lane; Monica Martinez, executive director of the Homeless Services Center; and Samantha Green from Applied Survey Research. The first public session will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, when Green will present a summary of the 2011 Homeless Census and Survey conducted by her organization and Brenda Dickey of the River Street Shelter will tell her story of overcoming homelessness.

Future class dates and topics include: news media coverage of homelessness, Feb. 1; local practices and policies, Feb. 8; the politics of homelessness, Feb. 15; law enforcement and homelessness, Feb. 22; national innovations and best practices, Feb. 29; and local innovation on homelessness, March 7.