The UC Berkeley Possibility Lab Releases New Report
The UC Berkeley Possibility Lab released a new report today detailing a collaborative research project to understand wellbeing from the perspective of people with lived experience of homelessness in the Bay Area. The report presents findings from a study using the Lab’s Firsthand Framework for Policy Innovation, which was funded by the Tipping Point Community Foundation and carried out in partnership with LifeMoves and Bay Area Community Services (BACS) – two leading community-based organizations providing housing and supportive services in the California Bay Area.
The Firsthand Framework for Policy Innovation is a structured process that gathers rich, qualitative expertise from communities and translates it to concrete indicators, which can then be used to identify, pilot, and evaluate reforms that authentically represent community perspectives and priorities.
Following initial consultations with LifeMoves and BACS to determine target populations and sites for the project, the Lab conducted nine focus groups between May and June 2025 with a total of 79 participants. The study generated 1,259 unique client-defined indicators of well-being.
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Key Findings
The study found that experiences of motivation, emotional steadiness, and a sense of progress are all shaped by the conditions people encounter in their day-to-day lives. Program milestones or securing housing were not the sole measure of wellbeing, according to participants. Instead, they described it through the more routine features of daily life, such as feeling safe, maintaining a routine, having supportive relationships, and experiencing emotional stability. They also pointed to factors in housing and service delivery as influencing how they were doing, including the quality of staff interactions, clarity and consistency of support, rules, communication, and environmental conditions.
“Stability, emotional wellness, and safety are universal indicators of wellbeing, including for people who have experienced homelessness,” said Dr. Naomi Levy, Faculty Affiliate at the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab and professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University. “By centering clients’ lived experiences, the Firsthand Framework makes visible aspects of wellbeing that are often overlooked, including early signals of progress or challenges that emerge well before longer-term outcomes like housing stability are realized.”
The report identifies two practical ways these client-defined indicators can strengthen housing programs and services. First, by tracking client-defined indicators over time, service providers can surface stalled progress or unmet needs in ways that reflect clients’ experiences and priorities. Second, when aggregated across clients and time, these indicators offer provider organizations a community-informed way to understand, improve, and communicate what their programs actually achieve.
“We’re grateful to the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab and Tipping Point Community for investing in an approach that elevates the voices of those we serve,” said LifeMoves Interim CEO Nick Hodges. “As an innovator in interim and supportive housing, LifeMoves relies on client perspective and lived experience as the building blocks of our programming. This partnership deepens that commitment by providing practical, client-informed guidance to refine how we measure success, strengthen our programs, and deliver even more effective services.”
The Process
Four focus groups were held across LifeMoves’ sites, including in a congregate housing facility, a facility with private living spaces and on-site support services, a facility for families, and a LGBTQ+- focused facility. The Lab also hosted five focus groups at BACS’ sites – two in a congregate transitional facility and three with community-based clients, including justice-involved individuals, clients with mental health challenges, and those that utilize drop-in services in one of their wellness centers. Community-based organization staff recruited participants for the focus groups through random selection from their client lists at all sites, except for the wellness center, where respondents were recruited through flyers posted at the location.
“BACS is proud to have partnered with the Possibility Lab in conducting this research,” said Qimmah Hameed, VP of Community & Landlord Engagement and Matthew Young, Associate Director of Programs at BACS. “At BACS, we know that meaningful progress is not only measured through system-level outcomes, but also through the lived experiences of the individuals and communities we serve. This collaboration offers an important opportunity to center the voices of the communities we serve, demonstrating how firsthand indicators of wellness can strengthen existing measures of success. Integrating client expertise can help inform a more responsive, effective, and human-centered system of care.”