WITH this issue, the e-news begins its coverage of the upcoming 2007 National Project Homeless Connect Week, scheduled in more than 25 communities from December 3 - 10 this year. This week's e-news highlights planning underway in 2007 National Week cities and counties, as well as highlights of best practices from PHC events and the Council's NPHC Toolkit.

In the following stories, you'll find an emphasis on Project Homeless Connect's best practice characteristics as a one-day, one-stop, community-wide event increasing outcome- oriented access to consumer-centric resources: housing, support, and quality of life resources. PHC's key themes are hospitality to the consumer, immediacy of resources with same-day results, voluntary civic participation from the community, partnership across agencies and sectors, and excellence through rigorous evaluation and improvement. All with just one goal: ending homelessness.

From coast to coast next week, communities will welcome their homeless neighbors. The Hartford Wolf Pack Hockey Team, an American Hockey League Team affiliated with the New York Rangers, is supporting Hartford's Project Homeless Connect by offering admission to their December 7 game to anyone who brings coats, hats, or scarves for distribution at the PHC. The team will also provide box lunches for the PHC. In New York City, the Department of Homeless Services, Common Ground Community's Street to Home initiative, and volunteers will mount an outreach-to-move-in effort with persons who are chronically homeless. In San Francisco, new individual "Navigators" will partner with consumers to support them for follow-up appointments and visits.

Cities and counties currently planning events for the National Week include: Berkeley and Oakland/Alameda County, Bridgeport, CT, Clarksville, TN, Columbia, SC, Danbury, CT, Knoxville, TN, Los Angeles, Miami, Morristown, NJ, Nashua, NH, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pomona, CA, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and San Rafael/Marin County.

Mayors and County officials who signed the American's Road Home Statement of Principles and Actions (see related e- news story) expressed their support in the Statement for Project Homeless Connect events as a component of jurisdictional 10-Year Plans. Project Homeless Connect has also received the support of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which at its 2007 Annual Meeting unanimously passed a resolution noting that USCM "commends this innovative initiative and encourages Mayors to adopt the National Project Homeless Connect model and participate in the 2007 National Project Homeless Connect Week." (See related story for more on this USCM resolution.)

Among those Charter Signatories was Fort Worth, Texas Mayor Mike Moncrief, shown here with United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano as the two officials welcomed homeless neighbors to Fort Worth's PHC event in April 2007. Fort Worth's event showed the range of local partners that make Project Homeless Connect successful. In addition to the City of Fort Worth, other sponsors were Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, Price Waterhouse Coopers, and Broadway Baptist Church, which hosted the event. Just as one PHC city after another attests to the "power of pilgrimage" to see a Project Homeless Connect event launched firsthand before implementing locally, Mayor Moncrief, following the best practice of other jurisdictional officials, recently sent his own 10-Year Planning team on a multi-city pilgrimage to examine innovations.

Leadership of Project Homeless Connect by Mayors and County officials and on-site participation at events - including a pre-event kickoff for volunteers and a welcome handshake for homeless neighbors as the doors are opened for the day - have been key to the success and results of the more than 225 Project Homeless Connect events that have been implemented across the country over the last two years, starting with San Francisco's pioneering of the innovation led by Mayor Gavin Newsom. A pre- event "thank you" to volunteers by the Mayor, County officials, and other elected leaders, as well as a "Welcome" by the Mayor and County officials to homeless guests as they enter the site, have become PHC best practices. Integration of Project Homeless Connect into jurisdictionally-led, community-based 10-Year Plan activities provides a natural connection and foundation for achieving results. A Mayor or County leader's presence and leadership re-prioritizes local government resources, hastens creation of community partnerships, catalyzes media interest in the event, connects provider agencies, and mobilizes business partners. Pictured here are Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim and Council Director Mangano speaking at Norfolk's pre- event PHC volunteer rally.

Fargo, North Dakota Mayor Dennis Walaker and Moorhead, Minnesota Mayor Mark Voxland sent jointly signed letters to the business community urging their PHC participation: Project Homeless Connect "has become a best practice standard around the nation and is a part of the Fargo 10-Year Plan to End Long Term Homelessness."

Over the last two years, as more and more cities and counties have adopted Project Homeless Connect, additional opportunities have emerged to integrate PHC into 10-Year Plan action steps and outcomes. Lead PHC sponsors now include universities, businesses, communities, faith groups, and professional sports teams. In Tacoma, Washington, for example, University of Puget Sound President Ron Thomas is partnered with Mayor Bill Baarsma in 10-Year Plan goals for The Road Home and participated at Tacoma/Pierce County's recent Project Homeless Connect.

Cities and counties have also expanded visibility by passing resolutions or issuing proclamations declaring "Project Homeless Connect Day" locally, as Los Angeles County has done, and recognizing their major civic and business partners, as Denver did in naming its PHC day as "Comcast Cares Day."

Elected officials from communities throughout Morris County, New Jersey declared "Project Homeless Connect Day" in their county last year and issued a Proclamation citing the opportunity presented by Project Homeless Connect "to bring the Morris County community together to respectfully deliver hospitality, real services, and information to those experiencing homelessness to move more people more quickly toward housing and stability." Morris County became the 100th community to adopt the PHC innovation. Director Mangano and local partners are pictured here gathered for the Proclamation event.

Over 150 jurisdictions have adopted the innovation of Project Homeless Connect to date. During the National Week, San Francisco, which pioneered the strategy, will convene its 19th PHC on December 5. Over 20,000 persons experiencing homelessness in San Francisco have been connected to resources through PHC.

Five new cities will host PHC during the National Week. More than 100 events have been implemented during January- November 2007, a five-fold increase over 2006. Jurisdiction-wide strategies have also taken root. In New Jersey, 43 events were underway in 2007, and in Michigan, where the state's Campaign to End Homelessness provided 33 competitive seed grants to plan PHC, 18 events are planned for the period December to April.

Results for persons experiencing homelessness are regularly reported from PHC cities and counties, and in just the last year, almost 62,000 homeless neighbors have been welcomed by almost 30,000 volunteers in more than 150 cities.

Encouraged for a single day by the Council in 2005, the first National Day saw 25 cities take part. The 2006 National Week was an expansion to a weeklong implementation with 40 cities and counties welcoming their neighbors.

In 2007, the Council expanded its schedule, encouraging cities to the theme of "inspire by example" with PHC events during the April National Volunteer Week; Council Director Mangano presented Presidential Volunteer Services Awards across the nation. Awardees included four former consumers working as volunteers. In Norfolk, Virginia, Director Mangano joined Mayor Paul Fraim and City of Norfolk Office to End Homelessness Director Katie Kitchin to recognize Rear Admiral (Ret.) Thomas Steffens, who had over a 30-year career as a Navy SEAL. Admiral Steffens, a Board member of Norfolk's ForKids program, was recognized for his volunteerism including creating the ForKids Sports Program. Pictured here are (left to right): Mayor Fraim, Admiral Steffens, ForKids Chair Ellis, and Director Mangano.

Pictured here is Director Mangano as he presented the Presidential Volunteer Service Silver Award to Michael Doyle, Executive Director of Fort Worth's Cornerstone Assistance Network, a nationally-recognized, locally-focused, faith-based organization serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Texas. Mr. Doyle serves as Chairman and President of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, as a Board Member of the Texas Homeless Network and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, as an Advisory Board Member for the Faith and Service Technical Education Network, (FASTEN) Program, and as both Governors Bush and Perry's appointee to the Interagency Council for the Homeless in Texas, as well as Governor Perry's appointee as the Texas Liaison to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Director Mangano is pictured here at left with Mike and Kay Doyle.

In October 2007, building on the partnership that more than 35 cities and counties have established with United Way chapters to create and implement their 10- year Plans, the Council encouraged 24 partner cities and counties to implement PHC events during their local Days of Caring with United Way chapters.

As is true for jurisdictional 10-Year Plans, partnership of the public and private sectors in Project Homeless Connect creates an expansive and inclusive array of partners offering new opportunities to leverage complementary resources and increase access for consumers. The Interagency Council is committed to the rapid dissemination of best practices in all initiatives that achieve results in ending homelessness and has convened a series of technical assistance events to bring a faculty of experts to state and local partners. This e-news story focuses on examples of partnership with business and civic sector leaders, and the following story highlights governmental and intergovernmental partnerships.

Private sector Project Homeless Connect partners include: United Way, philanthropy, business and civic leaders, banks, Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Associations, housing developers, Public Housing Authorities, tourism officials, hospitality industry officials, academia, colleges and universities, technical and trade schools, hospitals and health centers, behavioral health providers, transportation agencies, workforce agencies, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, courts including special courts, Veterans organizations, advocates, providers, and community-based organizations, consumers, libraries, parks and recreation agencies, and professional sports teams. Pictured here are expert faculty and partners at the Council's PHC best Practices Institute in July 2007.

 

 

Partnering with Business. Denver and San Francisco have partnered with major local corporations offering PHC involvement to their employees for corporate one-day service events. 600 homeless men and women were assisted at Denver's PHC by over 700 volunteers, a majority of whom were Comcast employees participating in the company's 6th annual Comcast Cares Day held nationwide on the first Saturday in October. Comcast also donated $50,000 to Denver's Road Home 10-Year Plan effort. Pictured here at the Albany, Oregon PHC are Sue Strickland from Goodwill Job Connection, and Supercuts Area Administrator Jennifer Maul (third from right) and her store managers. Ms. Maul and her store managers have also participated in all of the Portland Project Homeless Connect events.

Many businesses support the San Francisco Project Homeless Connect effort and are identified on the city's PHC website. FedEx has been identified as playing an increasingly important role in reunification efforts, making their extensive database capabilities available to assist in locating and ultimately reuniting family/friends with Connect Clients. Free checking accounts through Wells Fargo Bank were a new service offered at PHC.

Stated the Mayors of Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN in their partnership letter to the business community, "This is where you come in. The business community can support Project Homeless Connect through cash or in-kind donations, through volunteerism, and by providing the problem solving mindset our 'can do' business community is associated with." Bremer Bank, FedExKinkos, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Burlington North, Dakota Medical Foundation, ShareHouse, United Way, Salvation Army and Great Plains Food Bank all helped support the event. In an example of business- minded "can-do" strategies, organizers noted the importance of encouraging onsite computer and internet access by resource providers to facilitate benefit and employment applications and eligibility determinations.

LensCrafters employees at many PHC events are participating in the company's "Gift of Sight" program which offers free vision care services in partnership with local Lions Clubs, United Way agencies, schools, churches and other non profit organizations.

 

 

United Way Partners. As noted in the prior e-news story, United Way has been a key partner in 10-Year Plans and Project Homeless Connect events across the country. October 2007 Days of Caring events in 24 partner cities and counties included Denver's Mile High United Way. New Jersey United Way this year coordinated 43 PHC's on one day partnered with corporations, colleges, and churches. In Norfolk city partners and the local United Way showed expansive partnership and immediacy of results this year at the city's fourth one-day, one-stop engagement in Norfolk which reported a 17% decrease in street homelessness in February 2007. More than 800 community volunteers welcomed over 600 consumers to the array of over 60 services and resources. Forty people accessed permanent housing on site, and 10 were hired on the spot for new jobs.

Professional Sports Partners. San Francisco and Portland engaged professional sports teams - the Giants and Trailblazers - to sponsor and add visibility, and Denver has partnered with the Broncos, as well as local universities. Portland Trail Blazers invited 6000 homeless and at risk individuals and families to be guests at the Trail Blazers Harvest Dinner. In addition to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the guests received medical services; access to educational, legal and housing resources; job counseling; haircuts; and pet care.

New York Jets former running back Curtis Martin, when he announced his retirement earlier this year, committed to partner with New York City's Department of Homeless Services in initiatives to prevent and end homelessness. Martin is participating in PHC events during the 2007 National Week.

Academic Partners. In Minneapolis, volunteers greet and help participants navigate a variety of resources with minimal confusion and maximum benefit, thanks to a beneficial partnership with the University of Minnesota School of Architecture. Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman credits the Dean of the University of Minnesota School of Architecture for creating the layout design that facilitates the smooth flow of services. University of St. Catherine Nursing School sent 60 volunteer nursing students to the event to provide primary care and triage. Partnership with educators was also key: 16 people enrolled in GED classes, 85 enrolled in Adult Education, and 45 children enrolled in Head Start. Over 40 people entered job skills training.

As noted earlier, University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington is partnered through its President Ron Thomas with Mayor Bill Baarsma's 10-Year Plan goals and participated at Tacoma/Pierce County's recent Project Homeless Connect. Denver hosted a recent PHC at the University of Denver, drawing on faculty, students, and campus infrastructure for its event and has partnered with Regis University.

Mainstream Media. During the 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week, through the support of the Interagency Council in partnership with SONY/Columbia Pictures, communities adopted a new media tool using the opportunity to hold preview no-cost screenings of the feature film, "The Pursuit of Happyness." Starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a homeless single father in San Francisco and Oakland who sets his sights to become a successful broker and eventually owns his own brokerage firm in Chicago, the film gave many cities a "preview night" event before their Project Homeless Connect event to engage local leaders. SONY generously offered preview screenings to reach local opinion leaders, including many key figures regularly identified as partners in jurisdictional planning to end chronic homelessness. With more city, county, and state leaders than ever engaged in forwarding the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness, media acts as an important vehicle for raising awareness and furthering the work of assisting homeless individuals through the efforts of Federal agencies, State and local governments, and private voluntary organizations in communities.

This e-news story highlights examples of Project Homeless Connect partnerships in federal, state, city, and county government to increase access to consumer-centric resources and reduce barriers. Best practice communities work with their United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator to ensure the presence of Federal, State and City and County agencies.

Federal Partnership. With the encouragement of the Council, federal agency representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and Rural Development, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services programs, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are on-site at many PHC Connect events to provide direct benefit and application assistance. Initiatives such as the Social Security Administration's SSI enrollment-focused HOPE (Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation) and the federal interagency SSI initiative with States called SOAR can be key resources.

Other partnership examples involving federal resources include: In San Jose, the city used AmeriCorps volunteer resources - focused on building capacity and creating sustainable initiatives - to develop its PHC infrastructure. At the recent Triangle Project Homeless Connect event in Raleigh, North Carolina Congressional District offices collaborated to bring constituent services workers on-site to provide resources. Norfolk, Virginia found a broad base of volunteer support in its military community, where service members - mission-focused and team-oriented - were a ready volunteer resource for PHC events.

State and Local Intergovernmental Partnership. The State of Michigan, whose statewide Campaign to End Homelessness supported the development of 60 10-Year Plans covering the entire 83 counties in the state, linked PHC development to the goals of 10-Year Plans by providing 33 grants to seed the PHC model locally. Seed grants were $1,000 for new sites and $500 for returning sites.

Michigan's results, first announced with the award of resources at the inaugural Statewide Summit in October 2006, have resulted in coverage of half of the 60 10-Year Plans to date, with 15 PHC events from January to November of this year, and 18 more events now scheduled from December 2007 to April 2008. Director Mangano is pictured here with Michigan State Housing Development Authority Director Michael DeVos at the October 2007 Statewide Summit.

 

 

Law Enforcement. St. Paul/ Ramsey County, Minnesota officials chose Sgt. Paul Paulos and Officer Dean Koehnen to be the lead organizers for the community's Project Homeless Connect and thus they became the first police officers in the nation to lead a Project Homeless Connect. The officers had pioneered an innovative police outreach initiative that is creating tenancies for chronically homeless men and women with substance abuse and incarceration backgrounds. The St. Paul Police- Homeless Outreach Project (P-HOP) is identifying and engaging chronically homeless individuals living on the streets in the downtown area and in camps and working with landlords to create housing opportunities for them. The officers had recognized from their work on the streets that many homeless people they were encountering had criminal records, poor rental histories, and in some cases ongoing substance use issues that served to exclude them from housing. Through his code enforcement work, Officer Koehnen was also aware of vacant buildings in the city. The housing effort began when the officers were able to convince the owners of three buildings that had been vacant for 9 months to repair and make the units available to house persons who had been living on the streets identified through the P-HOP program. Through their housing efforts, more than 53 formerly homeless men and women living long term on the streets of St. Paul were housed in the first year of effort. For the Connect event, the officers helped bring together 70 community organizations and over 250 volunteers to provide hospitality and services to over 900 people. The officers are founding members of an innovative downtown Police- Provider Forum that meets quarterly. Director Mangano is pictured here with the officers and their community partners on a visit to St. Paul.

In Albany, Oregon, led by Police Captain Ben Atcheley, citizen volunteers and service providers mobilized to host the community's first Project Homeless Connect, dubbed "Heart to Heart", providing welcome and a range of resources to 120 homeless neighbors. Speaking to the volunteers, Captain Atcheley told them, "Homeless people don't want to be homeless. They are here today because they are looking for a way out of homelessness and it is our duty to help them." Captain Atcheley emphasized that the one day PHC was not a cure all, and that follow up with the homeless guests was needed and expected. Other sites have partnered with local courts, including special courts, to support consumers in clearing fines, warrants, and other barriers to jobs, housing, and identification. Pictured here are Captain Atcheley speaking at the volunteer rally; and Social Security Administration staff Alice Antley and Alan Edwards.

Portland, Oregon last year implemented the national innovation of Project Homeless Connect to a successful family model and has now convened a recent second successful family PHC event. Mary Carroll of the Office of Portland, Oregon City Commissioner Erik Sten has acted as the lead organizer for the event, and she has provided to local partners at Council-sponsored events her expert assistance in best practices for engaging families, focusing on mobilizing political and civic will, partnership, event execution, planning teams, site selection, volunteers, resources, consumer engagement, media, and reporting data and results.

Among the details emphasized by Mary Carroll are the timing of the family event, which is designed to coincide with the school year, allowing organizers to partner with schools for outreach. Outreach is also done through motels and other sites with door- hangers announcing PHC. Portland's outreach efforts yielded a surprising result, as most of the families who participated were new visitors to services, not familiar users of local programs.

Hours of operation for PHC were scheduled to meet family needs, with a later start and finish time that would allow family participation and included both lunch and dinner offerings. With accessible family health care coverage in the state, family PHC offerings were tailored differently than for singles' events, with direct access to housing - including funds raised exclusively for the event - available to make a move to housing a reality. Family photos were among the most popular offerings.

Mary Carroll is pictured here orienting volunteers before the start of the PHC event.

Berkeley, California followed on its 2006 success in implementing a Berkeley/Oakland Project Homeless Connect by expanding its reach through a Youth Connect targeted specifically to homeless and at risk young adults ages 18-25 in the Berkeley/Oakland area. 30 volunteers provided assistance to 55 young homeless men and women. "We know that young homeless people fall through the cracks of our traditional homeless service and outreach efforts," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. "By bringing our community together in one place to provide a range of useful services and programs, we think we can give these young people some help and hopefully break the cycle of homelessness."

The Youth Connect was held at Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel (YEAH!) at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Cross in Berkeley and was organized by Mayoral Aide Julie Sinai, YEAH! Executive Director Sharon Leyden, and Jane Micallef from the city's Housing Department. Volunteer and donation coordination was handled by Gloria Bruce of The Berkeley Alliance, a group formed to strengthen collaboration between the City, the University of California at Berkeley, the Berkeley Unified School District, and the broader Berkeley community. The Berkeley Alliance became involved with the Youth Connect event through Mayor Bates' Champions for Kids program which works to increase volunteerism focused on youth.

A $250 donation from the Berkeley Police Department along with other community donations helped provide t-shirts and food items; other donations included socks, YMCA passes, Cliff bars, sleeping bags, jackets and parkas from North Face and 70 backpacks from the Bayer Corporation which is headquartered in Berkeley. On-site services included warrant support and advice; medical services; dental and vision screening; mental health, substance abuse, smoking cessation, and family reunification assistance; social services application assistance; animal care services; hair cuts; library cards; bicycle repair; and free cell phone calls and voicemail setup. Participating agencies included the Berkeley Departments of Housing and Health and Human Services, YEAH!, the Fred Finch Youth Center, Suitcase Clinic, and Lifelong Medical Care, Inc. Berkeley Police Sergeant David White appreciated the opportunity to participate in the event, saying "Youth Connect gives the police department a more positive way to be involved by creating a different type of environment to connect with homeless youth."

Showing the essence of hospitality at the heart of Project Homeless Connect, Berkeley City Council Member Laurie Capitelli and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera greeted and seated each client at a restaurant style lunch provided by the Caffe Venezia restaurant. Mayor Bates and Regional Coordinator Cabrera are pictured here.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, buoyed by its experience at Project Homeless Connect events held in Minneapolis and St. Paul over the last two years staged a "Project Youth Connect" in August focused on homeless and at risk youth ages 14-23. Held in the more intimate setting of St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, 144 young people, predominantly ages 16-21 and nearly evenly split between men and women, were welcomed and assisted by 50 service providers. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak who helped lead development of the Minneapolis/Hennepin County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness and who has been a strong supporter of the Connect events visited the Youth Connect, thanking the volunteers and service providers for their efforts to prevent and end homelessness among the youth of the community.

Mary Revoy of the Bridge for Runaway Youth, Inc, and Sandra Anderson of St. Mary's coordinated the event with a Steering Committee comprised of youth workers from numerous community non profits, faith- based congregations and government agencies. Church volunteers prepared bag lunches and served a full evening meal. Youth friendly entertainment was also provided. Street outreach workers from various organizations served as guest escorts through the myriad of services that were divided into 4 areas: Health Care including mental health and an onsite clinic with STD testing; Employment Assistance; Education including high school enrollment, alternative and adult basic education options, and higher education information; and a Housing category that included shelters, transitional and permanent housing, drop in centers, and legal assistance information. HousingLink provided well organized information about rental housing opportunities. The young people were able to use a ticket received upon entry to pick out free clothes and hygiene products based on a point value system.

Youth learned about the event through street outreach workers, provider agency referrals, artwork posters left at drop-in centers and other places, and public advertising. The St. Mary's site is located near two major bus routes and additional transportation to the event was provided from pick up points by The Bridge for Runaway Youth. Transportation from the event was provided with free bus passes.

Preventing and ending homelessness among youth is an integral part of the Heading Home Hennepin 10- Year Plan with benchmarks that include taking action to improve the discharge of youth exiting foster care and other public systems; creating 60 shelter beds and 910 supportive housing opportunities, of which 60% would be achieved through tenant based rental assistance and "host homes"and 40% new units; engaging homeless youth, unaccompanied youth with education and employment opportunities; creating suburban youth outreach teams, and improving mental health coordination for youth.

WITH this issue, the e-news continues its coverage of jurisdictional leaders who have voiced their support for partnerships, innovations, and results in ending chronic homelessness. This issue of the e- news, focused on the innovation of Project Homeless Connect, beginning with remarks of Council Director Mangano and continues with excerpts from statements by jurisdictional CEO's ranging from Mayor Gavin Newsom in San Francisco where PHC was pioneered as a key element of the city's 10-Year Plan, and continues with statements from other implementing communities.

"Inspired by the President's call to action, hundreds of Mayors and County officials across the country have committed to jurisdictional 10-Year Plans to end chronic homelessness. As a result, innovative initiatives have emerged that offer new hope for our homeless neighbors. Project Homeless Connect (PHC), now implemented in more than 150 cities coast to coast, is one of those technologies creating change across our country.

"Project Homeless Connect is an innovation that did not exist three years ago, yet which today has welcomed literally thousands of homeless people in from the streets nationwide. Now - across our country - Project Homeless Connect welcomes our poorest neighbors back to the center of community life.

"Project Connect becomes the living room of the community. We welcome those who have been metaphorically and literally exiled to the periphery of our community into our house of hospitality and welcome, to offer the resources to remedy their situation.

"Rather than averting our eyes or our resources, we look our homeless neighbors straight in the eye and offer the resources of our community, what people need to move beyond the long misery of homelessness.

"We are indebted to San Francisco's Mayor and 10- Year Plan for creating this innovation and to the growing number of communities who have contributed to the ongoing evolving effort by joining the National Project Homeless Connect partnership coordinated by USICH."
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano

"Project Homeless Connect is breaking the myth that people do not seek assistance and services and would rather be on the street. The data prove that when people are approached in a respectful and kind manner, and with available resources, they are eager to accept help toward self-sufficiency."
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

"This is the beginning of a new way to address homelessness . . . Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop shop to deliver real services to people experiencing real homelessness in our community. But this is also about a commitment to move from simply managing homelessness towards really ending homelessness."
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak

"We have hundreds of people enlisted for Project Homeless Connect. It's become a real cause in our city. At our State of the City Address which is attended by 1100 business people, the one line that got the most applause and support was that we are making good on our promise to end homelessness in our city and showing results."
Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim

"Project Homeless Connect has evolved from the Knoxville/Knox County 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which calls for efforts by the whole community . . . to solve the problem. Project Homeless Connect is the first step to demonstrate how that can be done."
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam

"Today we are building the community's will to bring an end to homelessness. Government can't do this alone. Project Homeless Connect brings in the support of our sponsors and our civic leaders. We need them. We need all of you."
Portland Mayor Tom Potter

The United States Conference of Mayors at its 2007 Annual Meeting unanimously passed a resolution noting mayoral support for the implementation of Project Homeless Connect. Excerpts follow.

"WHEREAS, the recent innovation of National Project Homeless Connect is helping cities welcome people experiencing homelessness back into community life by mobilizing volunteers from all walks of life to provide services and housing in one-day, one-stop engagement events that support the goals of their ten year plans . . . and building on models of response to Katrina and in Veterans' Stand Downs . . . Mayors have organized Project Homeless Connect events specifically to engage homeless youth, homeless families, and chronically homeless individuals . . . and have engaged business, academia, professional sports, and an expansive range of new public and private partners in executing Project Homeless Connect events . . . Project Homeless Connect supports a new way of doing business to achieve results for homeless consumers and cities of all sizes have developed best practices in Project Homeless Connect events and have been encouraged to share their strategies with other cities . .
United States Conference of Mayors 2007 Resolution

email: ichnews@setechnology.com

web: http://www.usich.gov