No one runs alone: Combining community-based program evaluation with photo elicitation interviewing among people experiencing homelessness

•Forming a community-academic partnership and utilizing PIE methods to answer our research questions resulted in a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms though which social interactions within BoMF may confer benefits to participants.•Social events facilitated the formation of relationships through talking and sharing stories while exercising.•Social interactions in BoMF taught them that they can trust others, which contrasts with previous negative experiences that characterized their social interactions.