|
Carson City, NV 9/06
CARSON CITY, NEVADA. On September 23rd, this state
capital city held its first Project Homeless Connect at the Pony
Express Pavilion at Mills Park with transportation provided to
and from the Friends in Service Helping (FISH) building for health
and dental services, immunizations and TB testing. The event
was organized by the Carson City Health and Human Services Department
and involved 32 partner agencies and approximately 100 community
volunteers and agency representatives. Services at the Pony Express
location included court adjudication, haircuts, employment services,
distribution of hygiene kits donated by the VA, blankets and
bedding donated by a local casino, non perishable food, school
supplies and backpacks.
Denver, CO 10/06
DENVER'S ROAD HOME MAINTAINS MOMENTUM WITH 3RD PROJECT
HOMELESS CONNECT
October 7, 2006. With the first snow of the season
predicted for Monday evening, Denver's third Project Homeless Connect
held Saturday at the Denver Human Services Building couldn't come
soon enough for the 600 homeless men and women who came seeking housing
and a variety of health, benefits assistance, and employment services.
They were greeted by representatives of 35 health and human service providers,
businesses, schools and medical organizations and more than 700 volunteers,
a majority of whom were Comcast employees participating in the company
6th annual national COMCAST CARES volunteer day held on the first Saturday
in October. Denver's Project Homeless Connect was one of 17 community
projects in Colorado and 300 nationally in 34 states and the District
of Columbia supported by this year's COMCAST CARES DAY which involved
30,000 Comcast employees and their families and over a million dollars
in grants to the local community partner organizations. Comcast donated
$50,000 to Denver's Road Home 10-year plan effort.
This third Denver PHC differed in a number of ways from the
first two events. Not only was this one sponsored almost entirely
by Comcast as a way of giving back to the community, but it
was also the first one held on a Saturday and at the Department
of Human Services Building, giving PHC organizers an opportunity
to compare approaches for reaching the homeless in the community
including whether familiarity with the Department of Human
Services Building might increase the "show up" rate for follow
up appointments for city services provided at that location.
PHC organizers
report that:
- 26 homeless individuals left with jobs starting Monday
through Temporaries on Stand By - a day labor outfit that
hires people for construction and other jobs. Nearly 100
others were assisted by six other onsite employers.
- 65 Veterans were helped with benefits, military records
and hygiene kits.
- 200 were assisted with personal documentation eligibility
which is necessary to access benefits like housing, employment
and other services.
- 115 received direct medical care including screenings for
dental, vision, and urgent medical care.
- 110 received legal consultations and assistance.
Businesses providing in-kind donations included Chipotle, Deep Rock
Water, Old Chicago Foundation, Regis University, Robinson Dairy and
Udi's.
Duluth,
MN 10/06
DULUTH, MN PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT ADDS MOMENTUM
TO 10-YEAR PLANNING EFFORT
 DULUTH,
MINNESOTA. The 400 community members who participated in this city's A Night Without a Home Sleepout on September 30 to generate volunteers, toiletry and clothing necessities, and awareness for Duluth's first Project Homeless Connect were just the beginning of the good news for this community's efforts to adopt Project Homeless Connect as one tool in their planning efforts to end chronic homelessness.
On Wednesday of last week, nearly 250 homeless and at risk of homelessness men and women came to Duluth's first ever Project Homeless Connect held at the Duluth Convention Center where they were greeted by 200 volunteers and another 100 employees from 40 service agencies. Once inside, screening and referrals were available for mental health, chemical dependency, and medical services as well as information and referrals on housing, employment, veterans services, social security, heating assistance, legal aid, domestic abuse and sexual assault counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous. Bus transportation was arranged for people who needed to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to apply for state identification cards, critical to being able to apply for numerous benefit assistance programs.
Duluth's Project Homeless Connect was an event of the Mayor's Task Force to End Homelessness which is working with St. Louis County to develop a 10- year plan. Paula Reed, President of the United Way of Greater Duluth chaired the Project Homeless Connect Committee. At a press conference and volunteer rally prior to the event, Mayor Herb Bergson and St. Louis Commissioner Steve O'Neil thanked United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano and Regional Coordinator Daryl Hernandez for being there to participate in the event and also commended Director Mangano and the Interagency Council for bringing this innovation, launched in San Francisco, to the attention of cities and counties across the nation. In his remarks, Director Mangano noted that Duluth was the 32nd city in the country to host a Connect event and said, " In my 25 years of work on homelessness, no strategy has had a more immediate impact or carries such promise, bringing together political leaders and citizens to encounter and end homelessness." Director Mangano praised Mayor Bergson and Commissioner O'Neil for their leadership "not only for today's Connect but for committing to a results oriented 10 year plan." He added, "You have positioned this community in the National Movement of Unprecedented Partnerships, Resources, and Innovations to end the disgrace of chronic homelessness in this country." Pictured here, middle l-r, Mayor Bergson, Director Mangano, and Commissioner O'Neil.
Intake surveys at the event reveal that nearly 25% of the participants reported long term homelessness of at least one year or four or more episodes of homelessness in three years. Another 11% reported multiple episodes of homelessness though not of as long a duration. 47% of participants surveyed at intake reported a disability of long duration, 19% reported serving in the military, 10% reported full or part time employment, 76% came by themselves, 16% were families, and 6% were unaccompanied youth. Nearly 42% reported spending the previous night in an emergency/temporary shelter, transitional housing or a place not meant for habitation. An Exit satisfaction survey revealed that 29% said housing information/ referral was the most important service they received, 12% reported medical care as being the most valuable to them, while 11% reported employment and job search as being the most important help they received.
Event organizers expressed the intention to have more onsite services available at future PHC events to provide direct immediate assistance. Throughout the day, Salvation Army shuttles provided transportation to and from the event site. In the weeks prior to the event, local charities had distributed free Duluth Transit Authority bus passes to the event. Bus passes were also distributed during the event to participants who made follow up service appointments. Hundreds of blankets, sleeping bags, hats, mittens and toiletries donated during the Sleepout were distributed to those in need by the volunteers who included many College of St. Scholastics and University of Minnesota at Duluth students.
DULUTH'S COMMUNITY-WIDE "NIGHT WITHOUT A HOME" PROVES TO BE AN INSPIRING PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT ENGAGEMENT INNOVATION
 DULUTH, MINNESOTA. "Incredibly humbling and exhilarating" is how Kim Crawford, congregational outreach organizer for Churches United in Ministry, described results from a community-wide Sleep Out in Duluth this past Saturday night which served to engage the citizens of Duluth in the effort to end chronic homelessness by raising awareness of the city's Project Homeless Connect event being held this week and generating donations of toiletries, blankets, sleeping bags, socks, hats, mittens and other items for distribution at the event. More than 400 people, including many young people, slept out in eight different locations raising more than $5500 in cash donations and generating mounds of donations. Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson and St. Louis County Commissioner Steve O'Neil along with three formerly homeless residents met and spoke with people gathered at the eight sleep out locations that included the Churches United in Ministry parking lot, Asbury United Methodist Church, Temple of Israel synagogue, Eastridge Community Church, Concordia Lutheran Church, Family of God Lutheran Church, the College of St. Scholastics and the University of Minnesota at Duluth.
The idea for the community-wide Sleep Out was born when organizers for Duluth's planned October 4 Project Homeless Connect contacted Churches United in Ministry, a human services agency created through an association of 38 congregations in Duluth, for ideas on how to increase community awareness of the event and generate volunteers. Over the years, individual congregations had held sleep outs as a way to raise money but never had there been a community-wide effort and especially one in which people were asked to pledge donations of basic new and unused necessities that would be given directly to homeless people in need.
Each participant was asked to find at least 10 sponsors to donate items or money. On Saturday night, the 400 participants brought the items that had been donated to their sleep out locations where throughout the night additional items and donations were dropped off. Collected items were distributed at the city's first ever Project Homeless Connect event on Wednesday.
|
