Criminal justice graduate Tasha Perdue ’05 examined homeless shelters for women in northwest Ohio as an undergraduate with financial assistance from the Office of Undergraduate Research.

As a criminal justice student Tasha Perdue of Nova, Ohio, tackled the social issue of female homelessness in northwest Ohio. Perdue, who was mentored by Dr. Jeff Holcomb, criminal justice, and Dr. Glenn Shields, social work, researched women experiencing homelessness. She explored through a documentary the regional services that are available to these women.

She was able to do the work, in part, because of a research scholarship she received through the Office of Undergraduate Research. She was one of only six undergraduate students to receive a research scholarship this past year. She also presented her findings at the second annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research last spring.

In her research, Perdue worked with two Toledo shelters, the Aurora House and the Family House. Each of the agencies provided information concerning the positive role that shelters had in homeless women's lives. Perdue interviewed shelter directors about the services the homes provided and talked to shelter residents about the positive experiences they had resulting from the shelter services.

She discovered that the most beneficial programs for the women included life skills training, childcare, substance-abuse counseling and educational programs. The purpose of the documentary was to examine the role of homeless shelters for women and the role they play in empowering women who are homeless. The final version of the documentary provides positive information about the impact of shelters for women facing homelessness and substantiates the importance of funding and community involvement for shelter services. Perdue graduated in August 2005 with the distinction of University Honors.