WASHINGTON, DC. Thirty cities across the country have partnered with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to launch tomorrow's inaugural National Project Homeless Connect Day, which will bring together thousands of volunteers from nonprofits, corporations, federal, state, and local government agencies, faith-based organizations, and homeless service programs to engage persons experiencing homelessness in services and housing to end their homelessness.

"Our goal is to encourage communities to focus on activities that will help bring someone's homelessness to an end," said Council Director Philip Mangano who will participate in National Day events in Los Angeles and Hollywood. Director Mangano pointed to Project Connect as "an innovative opportunity to fuse political and social will to generate quantifiable change on our streets and in our neighborhoods."

Public and private sector volunteers in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Chicago; Columbia, South Carolina; Denver; Knoxville, Tennessee; Miami; Nashua, New Hampshire; New York City; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose; San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Louis; Tallahassee, Florida; Warwick, Rhode Island; West Hollywood/Hollywood, California; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will reach out to people experiencing homelessness and offer services ranging from health care and legal aid to housing assistance, job opportunities, and benefits enrollment.

Project Homeless Connect originated in San Francisco in the fall of 2004 when Mayor Gavin Newsom launched the bi-monthly event to better link that city's street population with housing and services. Mayor Newsom gathered over 275 city workers and walked the streets of the Tenderloin District in an effort to better link the area's street population with available housing and services. Since then, the event, which is held every other month, has brought together over 10,000 volunteers with 5,500 people experiencing homelessness.

During Project Homeless Connect, volunteers engage homeless people on the streets or in shelters and invite them to a central location offering a wide range of services, including shelter/housing placement, urgent medical care, medical referral, dental care, eye exams and glasses, employment services and placement, legal assistance and referral, behavioral health counseling and referral, domestic violence counseling and referral, benefit enrollment, veterans' assistance, Food Stamps, foot care, HIV testing, free phone calls, pet care, wheelchair repair, documentation/identification assistance, and educational classes.

Project Homeless Connect events have also been recently held in Long Beach, New York City, and Dallas, with upcoming events scheduled in Clarksville, Tennessee; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Portland, Oregon; Quincy, Massachusetts; and Waco, Texas.

WASHINGTON, DC. Under the sponsorship of the Interagency Council, December 8's inaugural National Project Homeless Connect Day will find city officials, volunteers, and partners organized for outreach and one-stop services starting in the pre-dawn hours, to ensure that the innovative array of offerings for over 20 cities taking part are ready. Mayors from Miami to Los Angeles are expected to take part in their local events.

Sponsors for December 8 activities range from Mayor's offices from San Francisco to San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as the St. Louis Department of Human Services and the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The Cities and Counties of San Jose, Los Angeles, and Knoxville/Knox will partner to engage homeless neighbors, and Norfolk, Virginia's Office to End Homelessness will lead its initiative.

Sites for the day will include San Jose's Convention Center, local recreation and service centers, and Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco. San Juan will erect large tents in six areas of the city to house services. Winston-Salem will include "median outreach" and "driver education" on the streets to engage both persons experiencing homelessness and local citizens.

San Jose and Philadelphia have targeted housing opportunities to their events, so that persons seeking placement can have ready access to a unit or voucher, and other cities will seek to fill available slots during the day to achieve a reduction in street and shelter numbers. San Jose has targeted 25 Section 8 vouchers to a Housing First pilot for the event.

Tangible resources such as hot meals and clean and warm clothing will be supplemented by health and behavioral health services, including detox, flu shots, and prostrate exams, legal assistance, and benefits counselling. Federal partners will be on site in many locations to deliver VA and SSA access to benefits and services, as well as Food Stamps, and other assistance. Denver will station judges on site to expedite resolution of warrants and citations, Knoxville will conduct misdemeanour court, and Bridgeport's events will emphasize employment opportunity.

WASHINGTON, DC. When the December 8 inaugural National Project Homeless Connect Day is over, there will still be much to look forward to in the evolution of the Interagency Council's national partnership to engage persons who are homeless. More communities across the country have scheduled Project Homeless Connect events over the next few weeks. Pictured here is Council Regional Coordinator Sally Shipman and volunteers at last week's Project Connect event in Dallas, which occured in conjunction with the city's annual Stand Down.

Clarksville, Tennessee will hold a December 9 event, with Indianapolis and Minneapolis scheduled for December 13 and 14, respectively. Portland, Oregon, looks forward to a January 17 event, and Waco, Texas, will host Project Connect on January 27.