Overview

Dynamic, Responsive, Adaptive, and Multifaceted Knowledge Graph

DREAM-KG is an open knowledge network designed to partially address homelessness by integrating social, economic, environmental, and political factors into a structured and interpretable knowledge graph.

Project

Project Summary

Building a knowledge graph to support people experiencing homelessness, front-line workers, community organizations, and policy stakeholders.

This project aims to create a knowledge graph, DREAM-KG, that provides a comprehensive understanding of the social, economic, and political factors that contribute to homelessness, while organizing existing services and resources to support people experiencing homelessness.

The primary users of the system include people experiencing homelessness, front-line case workers, law enforcement agents, non-profit organizations, and federal agencies. DREAM-KG will help users understand structural factors, effective intervention methods, community resources, cultural nuances, and policy knowledge from local to federal levels.

The project uses topological data analysis, artificial intelligence models, and ontology techniques for data acquisition, integration, and analysis. By combining geometric theory, explainable AI, and semantic technologies, the project aims to advance AI applications, bridge AI and homelessness research, and offer novel solutions for homelessness prevention.

Ontology

DREAM-KG Ontology Structure

The DREAM-KG ontology organizes homeless-service information into a semantic structure centered on schema:Service. It connects services with categories, eligibility descriptions, contact channels, locations, languages, reviews, ratings, and geospatial context.

Each service node is linked to structured category codes such as service type, cost, availability, language, and target audience. Supporting entities describe access channels, phone contacts, opening hours, textual descriptions, eligibility requirements, reviews, and ratings. Spatial entities connect service locations to ZIP-code areas and geometries, enabling location-aware search and neighborhood reasoning.

DREAM-KG ontology structure diagram
Team

Team Members

DREAM-KG brings together researchers, domain experts, developers, and community-facing technology partners across multiple institutions.

Principal Investigators

Yuzhou Chen

Yuzhou Chen

PI

University of California, Riverside

Chiu C. Tan

Chiu C. Tan

Co-PI

Temple University

Huanmei Wu

Huanmei Wu

Co-PI

Temple University

Ying Ding

Ying Ding

Co-PI

The University of Texas at Austin

Senior Personnel & Consultants

Karin Eyrich-Garg

Karin Eyrich-Garg

Senior Personnel

National Institute of Mental Health

Omar Martinez

Omar Martinez

Senior Personnel

Temple University

Prithviraj Lanka

Prithviraj Lanka

Consultant

Shelter App

Shak Ragoler

Shak Ragoler

Consultant

Shelter App

Student Researchers

Chenguang Yang

Chenguang Yang

Ph.D. Student

University of California, Riverside

Javad M. Alizadeh

Javad M. Alizadeh

Ph.D. Student

Temple University

Genhui Zheng

Genhui Zheng

Ph.D. Student

The University of Texas at Austin

HuangRu Liao

HuangRu Liao

Master's Student

The University of Texas at Austin

Junchao Fei

Junchao Fei

Master's Student

Temple University

Mukesh Kumar Patel

Mukesh Kumar Patel

Master's Student

Temple University