Developing Best Practices for Haven’s Substance-Use Policy
This report is the most applied and comprehensive project I have completed to date. Over the summer, I worked as a Programs Intern with Haven, where I led an extensive literature review and qualitative research project to inform the organization’s new substance-use policy for its transitional housing program. The report integrates national research on harm reduction, domestic violence, and trauma-informed care with firsthand findings from interviews with Haven staff and residents. The resulting recommendations—centered on survivor autonomy, staff training, and trauma-informed risk management—directly informed Haven’s policy development.
This project exemplifies my ability to design and conduct rigorous, ethically grounded research that produces tangible organizational outcomes. My supervisor, Kareena, noted that I created a sense of safety during interviews, compiled a comprehensive and actionable report, and that my work “has been incredibly helpful in identifying potential pitfalls and outlining how best to support both staff and residents through the change.” This experience deepened my capacity for applied policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-informed decision-making within a sensitive service context.
From Housing Insecurity to Hope: Proposal for Bozeman’s Second Housing First Village
This paper demonstrates my ability to design, plan, and evaluate a comprehensive program within a realistic community context. The project required developing a theoretical proposal for a local nonprofit, complete with a budget narrative, evaluation metrics, and long-term sustainability measures. I chose to build upon HRDC’s successful Housing First Village (HFV) to propose a second HFV designed for families through Family Promise of Gallatin Valley. This paper showcases my understanding of program design, stakeholder collaboration, and the integration of evidence-based practices into a practical framework for addressing housing insecurity. It also reflects my commitment to aligning innovative program ideas with community needs and organizational missions.
Food Insecurity in the Face of Growth: Examining Structural Drivers and Organizational Responses in Gallatin County
This report demonstrates my ability to conduct collaborative, applied qualitative research on complex community issues. Working as part of a research team, I helped design and carry out semi-structured interviews with local food assistance providers to examine how rapid population growth and rising living costs are shaping food insecurity challenges in Gallatin County.
The project integrates an extensive literature review with thematic analysis of provider interviews to identify structural drivers of food insecurity, including housing affordability, stigma, policy eligibility gaps, and organizational capacity constraints. Beyond documenting challenges, the report highlights how community-based organizations adapt through partnerships, service innovation, and cross-sector coordination. This paper showcases my skills in qualitative data collection, coding, and synthesis, as well as my ability to apply a systems lens to interconnected issues like housing, food access, and community well-being.
Aligning Structure and Relationships:
Applying Systems Theory and Group Relations Theory to Big Sky Youth Empowerment
In this paper, I apply organizational theory to analyze the structure, culture, and leadership dynamics of Big Sky Youth Empowerment (BYEP), a local nonprofit I worked closely with for a previous class in nonprofit management. Building on earlier work, I incorporate both Systems Theory and Group Relations Theory (GRT) to examine how organizational roles, feedback loops, interpersonal dynamics, and decision-making structures shape BYEP’s overall functioning. Using academic theory alongside real-world insights from interviews with the Executive Director, I assess the organization’s strengths and limitations. I then develop actionable recommendations that address both structural inefficiencies and relational dynamics, offering pathways to improve cohesion, communication, and shared leadership across the organization. This paper demonstrates my ability to translate abstract theoretical frameworks into practical, evidence-informed strategies for strengthening organizational effectiveness.
Chronic Homelessness and the Case for Permanent Supportive Housing
Written for one of two courses I took in the Community Health, this paper examines chronic homelessness as a profound and preventable public health disparity in the United States. The first half of the paper situates chronic homelessness within a health equity framework, analyzing how structural determinants such as housing affordability, income instability, inadequate safety nets, and inequitable access to healthcare produce disproportionate rates of morbidity and mortality among people experiencing chronic homelessness. Drawing on national data and public health literature, the analysis highlights chronic homelessness as both a cause and consequence of systemic disinvestment.
The second half of the paper evaluates Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) as a policy and public health intervention, synthesizing evidence on housing stability, healthcare utilization, mortality, and health outcomes. Rather than assuming uniform effectiveness, the paper critically engages with mixed findings to assess where PSH demonstrates clear benefits, where limitations persist, and what these gaps imply for policy design and future research. This paper highlights my ability to critically evaluate research and apply public health evidence to housing policy.
Jess Folsom Marks 