How might we measure the impact and success of the Miracle Friends program?

BAY AREA, UNITED STATES  |  MIRACLE FRIENDS PROGRAM ASSESSMENT  |  JUN - AUG 2020
RESEARCH
STRATEGY
UNITED STATES
PROBLEM

Now during COVID-19, social isolation is becoming more prevalent than ever. Early this summer, Miracle Messages decided to launch a new program, Miracle Friends (MF), with the aim to prevent social isolation in our most vulnerable population. After a screening process with our mentors, unhoused individuals are paired with trained volunteers who take on the role of being a friend. The pairs connect at least once a week through phone calls and text messages.

Research shows that the presence of social support acts as a buffer or mediator to stressors that accompany homelessness, and even the perception of social support can directly decrease suicidal thoughts (Lin, Simeone, Ensel, & Kuo, 1979; Schutt, Meschede, & Rierdan, 1994). Based on these premises, the program intends to improve general well-being and reduce stress by providing companionship for the emergency-housed individuals.

Although the Miracle Friends program was quite new at that point, there were promising signs of early success. This project aimed to capture the impact of this program in a more rigorous, validated way and provide suggestions for improvement.
SOLUTION

Developed and administered a baseline survey and a post-participation survey to program participants after 2 months, with the goal of evaluating the impact of MF on participants’ perceived loneliness, stress, and companionship. A total of 50 unhoused friends and 30 volunteers participated in the surveys. The data supported the expansion of this program.
ROLE

Project Co-Lead & Survey Administrator
SKILLS

Impact Assessment / Data Analysis / Data Collection
TOOLS & METHODS

Phone Surveys / Airtable / Microsoft Excel

Outcomes

Evidence supported the expansion of this program, and to date, 130+ matches have been made!
Compiled an impact report detailing the effects of the program on participants' perceptions of loneliness, companionship, and stress
Conducted over 20 in-depth interview surveys to understand the needs and suggestions for improvement of Miracle Messages participants

Process

Research

Understanding Program Structure
The first step of the process was to gain an understanding of who the main stakeholders were in the program and their journey from start to end. Four main stakeholders were identified - shelter partners, unhoused friends, mentors, and volunteers. The figures to the right detail their role and journey.

Literature Review
Next, I researched what the current state of homelessness is in San Francisco, and studies pertaining to social support solving homelessness. Importantly, validated scales for assessing loneliness, stress, and companionship were found and incorporated in our study.

"Before the pandemic, of all Americans in the U.S., nearly 40% didn’t have enough savings to cover an emergency expense of $400 (Federal Reserve, 2019), and 552,830 experienced homelessness on any given night (OCPD, 2018). People without homes are increasingly likely to suffer from loneliness and social isolation (Bower, Conroy, & Perz, 2018)"

Surveying

Survey Development
Before implementing the survey, we did a pilot survey and iterated over feedback from volunteers (not in the study) and the executive team. Feedback included being too long, the need for a surveyor script, and clearer instructions. The final survey was made on Airtable, and researchers split-up surveying equally.

Details
The entire study took place over 2 months. We were able to administer the pre-participation survey to 25 friends and 15 volunteers, and the post-participation survey to 25 friends and 15 volunteers. Scales used: UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 (Russel, 1996), Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983), Friendship Scale (Hawthorne, Griffith, & Griffith, 2000)

Data Analysis

I was in charge of analyzing the volunteer data using regression analysis and ultimately found that there was no significant impact on volunteer loneliness, stress, or companionship. However, when analyzing the qualitative data through coding responses and identifying common themes, most volunteers stated that the greatest impact the MF program has had on them is changing their perspective on homelessness and making them feel like they are making a difference.

“It is even more important now than it was before we started self quarantine to find ways to connect with each other. Maybe this moment of everyone slowing down their lives has given us a little extra time to make the effort to be the person who refuses to let anyone else feel alone
- MF Volunteer

Delivery



Work

Miracle Friends Impact Assessment
Data Analysis Team Lead | Jun - Aug 2020 | Remote/California
How might we measure the impact and success of the Miracle Friends program?
________



Skills
Impact Assessment
Data collection
Data Analysis
Methods
User Surveying
Airtable
Microsoft Excel
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Skills
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Skills
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Methods
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Prototyping
User Testing

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