Resident-Led Encampments As Alternative Service Models: Evidence from Camp Resolution In Sacramento

As homelessness systems across the United States face growing strain, there is increasing interest in alternative, community-based responses that extend beyond traditional shelter and service delivery models. This study examines Camp Resolution, a self-governed encampment led by unhoused women in Sacramento, California, as an emergent form of resident-driven intervention.

Drawing on qualitative interviews, field observations, and longitudinal engagement with camp residents and leaders, this community-based participatory research (CBPR) project analyzes how the encampment functioned as a site of collective governance, mutual aid, and informal service provision. Findings highlight three key dimensions of the model: (1) the development of internal governance structures that promoted accountability and community safety; (2) the role of peer support and shared norms in stabilizing daily life; and (3) the ways residents navigated and, at times, resisted formal homelessness systems. While not without internal tensions and external constraints, the camp represents a meaningful departure from top-down service approaches, raising important questions about autonomy, dignity, and effectiveness in homelessness response.

In line with SSWR’s emphasis on research impact, this project also examines the role of documentary film as a form of knowledge translation emerging directly from the CBPR process. The Camp Resolution project was documented through a feature-length film co-developed alongside ongoing research and community engagement, and has been screened in academic, community, and policy settings. In Sacramento, the film has contributed to ongoing public debates—including media coverage and discussions in City Council meetings—about the design of transitional housing interventions, particularly the importance of fostering community, peer support, and resident voice within models such as tiny home villages. These engagements have positioned the research as part of a broader dialogue shaping how local stakeholders understand effective and humane responses to homelessness.

This study contributes to ongoing debates about service innovation by offering empirical insight into resident-led encampments as a viable, if contested, model within the broader homelessness response system. Implications for policy and practice include the need to reconsider the role of lived experience leadership and to support more participatory approaches to service design