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RELATED
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"Instead of averting our eyes from homeless people and
ignoring them, Project Homeless Connect offers us the opportunity
to look our homeless neighbors in the eye and engage them."
- USICH Executive Director
Philip Mangano
National Project Homeless Connect Day:
A First Among 10-Year Plan Cities
For
the first time, 10-Year Plan communities joined together in a national
event convened by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
National Project Homeless Connect Day took place in 26 cities around
the country on December 8th, 2005.
Most participating
communities organized one-stops run by volunteers offering homeless
people assistance with housing, health care, legal issues, benefits
enrollment, treatment and other basic needs. Over 16,000 people
participated in the National Day, which brought together 8,870 people
experiencing homelessness with 5500 community volunteers. 709 people
left the streets as a result.
Project Homeless
Connect, which originated in San Francisco and was central to the
community response to Hurricane Katrina, continues to grow as an
effective means of providing services and engaging the entire community.
In the coming months, Connect events will take place in Portland,
Oregon and Waco, Texas. Many of the cities that participated in
the National Day are already making plans for their next Connect.
The Council
will continue to provide support to cities interested in bringing
this technology to their communities. Information helpful in the
planning process will continue to be added to this website as it
becomes available, and the USICH newsletter will continue to feature
stories of Project Connect cities around the country.
"While there have been a host of governmental strategies
and dedicated non-profit agencies committed to finding solutions
to homelessness, the one missing piece has been the public's involvement
. . . until now, there has never been a portal for citizens to get
involved in creative solutions and witness tangible results."
-
PHC Overview - San Francisco
July, 2005
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