ENCOUNTERS
A Shared Research Initiative 2026-2028
Temple of the Forgotten & Sacred Streets
The Project
We seek to address a critical yet often overlooked gap in responding to homelessness: the emotional and spiritual needs of the unhoused and others treated as ex-humans in our society.Increasingly, spiritual care is seen and valued as a vital part of the social service system, yet it remains underrecognized, underfunded, and unresearched. When practices of spiritual care are woven throughout the system, we ignite a shift—from transactional services to personalized accompaniment that tends to the inherent dignity and wholeness of marginalized lives.
We begin with a simple yet urgent hypothesis: the absence of spirituality and spiritual care in our systems is a core reason the U.S. continues to struggle—often regressively—with homelessness, poverty, and marginalization. This project seeks to explore whether the intentional integration of a multi-faceted spiritual care approach can offer a transformative, community-rooted solution.
We will study the practices of spiritual care on the streets over the past 50+ years; the people and lived experiences that shape it; how it has supported or harmed; and how it might be more meaningfully integrated into existing systems.
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This project aims to reimagine our systems with care, compassion, and healing at the center.
Why Spiritual Care?
Spiritual care is increasingly recognized as vital across the U.S., yet remains largely unfunded, siloed, and excluded from formal systems of care. Despite being practiced in a range of settings—from hospitals to houseless encampments—spiritual care lacks the structural support, funding, and integration needed to reach its full potential. Too often, it is narrowly understood through a religious lens, when in fact it addresses a broader human need: tending to the spirit, restoring connection, and supporting communal and individual healing. Our project approaches the homelessness crisis by mapping the presence and impact of spiritual care in different contexts, bringing practitioners together to share practices, support one another, and collectively strengthen standards for accountability and scalability. We aim to de-silo the work and reimagine it as a core component of our systems. Spiritual care creates the conditions for a collective heart-shift—from scarcity to abundance, from isolation to relationship, from transaction to transformation. This project offers a unique opportunity to study, uplift, and integrate these practices—from an embodied level to the policy level—into systems that urgently need them.
The Three Pillars
This two-year project will unfold through three core initiatives, each guided by a shared timeline, mapped out with set dates for each output item, and organized according to its role in the project. The timeline is broken into four stages: deep listening, fieldwork and research, framework creation, and actionable impact, education and advocacy. The three core initiatives cover what we believe are the key items that must be addressed in order to fully understand and integrate spiritual care practices into our existing system. The three initiatives are as follows
This Pillar seeks to integrate spiritual care into social services by identifying key moments where such practices can benefit both recipients and providers. Even without formal chaplains, we believe frontline workers can embody more humanizing and dignifying ways of showing up. We aim to train providers to recognize and respond to these critical moments with deep presence and compassion.​
This initiative leads a nationwide ethnographic study on the role of spirituality in the lives of people experiencing homelessness. It highlights the often-invisible work of street and community chaplains, gathering their stories to uncover how spiritual care fosters survival, dignity, and connection. By documenting these practices, we aim to build an evidence base for a more relational, whole-person approach to poverty rooted in spiritual care.
This pillar begins by listening to the often-overlooked spiritual lives of people experiencing homelessness. It seeks to understand their beliefs, practices, and inner experiences, which are frequently dismissed by mainstream systems. From this wisdom, we aim to shape more compassionate care and highlight spirituality as a source of healing, resilience, and transformation.
Definitions
Street Chaplains and Spiritual Care Providers: It’s important to note that there is currently no clear definition or set of professional standards for what it means to be a spiritual care provider for unhoused and marginalized communities. Many refer to themselves as “street chaplains,” a term that often implies ordination within a faith tradition and chaplaincy training—but not always. Others use the term “street minister,” which may indicate ordination or a personal calling rooted in their relationship with the divine. Still others identify as “spiritual care providers” or “community chaplains,” coming from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, but drawn to approach their work through a spiritual lens. Some street chaplains are beginning to transition to the term “spiritual care provider,” as it can feel more official, inclusive, and accessible. In our written language during researching, we will use “spiritual care provider”.
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Homelessness and Exhumanization: When we use these terms, we’re referring to people in a wide range of life situations, including but not limited to: living on the streets; in trailers or vehicles; in shelters or transitional housing (including motels); incarcerated in local jails; residing in halfway houses, recovery or treatment centers; living in psychiatric or mental health facilities; youth in the foster care system; survivors of domestic violence in emergency or hidden shelters; and those living in low-income housing, hospice care, or skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Specifically, we serve those who are considered ex-humans by our society; whose lives are incapable of being cared for by our failed system; and who are consistently disrespected, disregarded and forgotten by their communities and care services.
Spiritual Care: When we use the term spiritual care, we are speaking of a specific, non-denominational and non-religious skill set grounded in trusted human connection. Spiritual care is the intentional support and exploration of what makes us most deeply human: our passions, our sense of purpose, our connection to something greater than ourselves, our belonging within community, and the sacred, vulnerable relationships we share with others.Things like a person’s traumas, past experiences, and familial or cultural upbringing are often part of spiritual care conversations—but they are held as pieces of a larger puzzle, offering context for who we are and what our purpose is on this earth. A spiritual care provider is trained to listen attentively, discern the unique spiritual needs of each person, and help them uncover and nurture those needs—whether they are deeply relational, individual, divine, or communal in nature. Spiritual care providers give people the opportunity to grow in empowering ways centered on connection, their inner truth, and the knowing that they are loved and cared for, as well as guided—whether that guidance comes from their communities of belonging, the divine or the earth, or from a deep inner knowing. While spiritual care shares similarities with therapy or counseling, it is distinct in its embrace of the most expansive and mysterious dimensions of human life. It engages directly with experiences such as suffering, fear, loss, disconnection, and—just as importantly—connection, meaning, and hope on a broader scale.
This Project is Overseen By...
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The Sacred Encounters Advisory Board:
The Sacred Encounters Lived Experience Advisory Board
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The Sacred Encounters Research Advisory Board
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The Interprofessional Roundtable on Social Services
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Community of Practice - Street Chaplains & Spiritual Care Providers
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