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2nd National Project Homeless Connect Week December 4-9, 2006
Immediacy, hospitality, and community are the hallmarks of the Project Homeless Connect innovation which continued to take root in communities throughout the nation when 39 cities and counties participated in 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week facilitated by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
 With jurisdictional leadership from mayors and county executives, help from volunteers, support from business, and the cooperation of service providers and state and federal agencies, more than 15,000 homeless men and women were welcomed back into the community and provided assistance that moves them closer to permanent housing and self-sufficiency. The welcoming spirit is essential to results. As one homeless participant reported in his exit interview, "I felt I could be honest to them today." As an immediate result of the 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week, 835 homeless men and women were helped off the streets through a combination of shelter beds, treatment beds, and transitional housing. Another 147 were provided permanent housing.
The week began with a message of greeting and appreciation from President George W. Bush to "all those participating in National Project Homeless Connect Week 2006 for your hard work and generosity in answering the call to serve. By working together to serve a cause greater than self, we can strengthen our Nation, one person, one neighborhood, and one community at a time."
With the encouragement of the Council, federal agency representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were on-site at many of the Connect events to provide direct benefit application assistance.
The effectiveness of Project Homeless Connect events in building stronger collaborations between local officials, government programs, and service providers for the benefit of homeless people is seen in the following note written after one of the Connect events:
"I think all agencies that work with the homeless get tired and feel unappreciated by City and County governments from time to time. The (PHC) event . . . brought us all together to work with each other in a way that we have not been able to accomplish on our own! New lines of communication have opened. . . This means only good things for our homeless population in the future."
Project Homeless Connect events create greater awareness and support for jurisdictional 10 Year Plan efforts and provide planners with important feedback from homeless consumers. National Project Homeless Connect Week events in Southeastern Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, Columbia, South Carolina, and Minneapolis/Hennepin County, Minnesota are particularly useful examples of how PHC events can strategically further the goals and objectives of 10-Year Plan efforts.
In PROVIDENCE,
At a statewide Connect event in Providence, Rhode Island, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano greeted volunteers and homeless participants and joined Governor Donald Carcieri at a press conference where the Governor announced a 10-Year Action Plan to End Homelessness.
 In MINNEAPOLIS,
Just a week after Hennepin County Commissioners and the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to approve Heading Home Hennepin, a $45 million joint city-county 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman greeted the more than 500 volunteers and 1300 homeless individuals and families who gathered at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the 4th Connect event to be held in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The community's first Connect event was held at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis during last year's National Project Homeless Connect Day. This was followed by a second event in March held at the Minneapolis Convention Center and a June event in St. Paul, notable for being the first PHC in the nation to be organized by two police officers. Community leaders and stakeholders engaged in the Minneapolis/Hennepin County 10-year planning effort had been able to witness the need and results from these earlier PHC events.
As the volunteers greeted and helped participants navigate to a variety of services with minimal confusion and maximum benefit, Commissioner Dorfman credited the Dean of the University of Minnesota School of Architecture for creating the layout design that facilitated the smooth flow of services. In the midst of it all was Minneapolis/ Hennepin County homeless coordinator Cathy ten Broeke, who will be leading the 10-Year Plan implementation effort and is the lead Connect organizer, who noted the importance of Connect events to building new partnerships and streamlining processes to focus on results. For this latest Connect event, organizers raised $42,000 through an individual donation, philanthropic, and business contributions to create an emergency fund used to "break down remaining barriers to immediate assistance." Funds were used for such things as buying bus cards for every person to ensure transportation to follow-up appointments; to purchase hard-to-find x-tra large sizes of clothing and shoes; first and last month rental assistance; medical and dental services including dentures; and DMV ID cards.
 In COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA,
As Mayor Howard Coble and 10-Year Plan leaders in Columbia, South Carolina continue their efforts to refine and establish priorities for plan implementation, the city participated in National Project Homeless Connect Week with an event held at the Taylor Street winter shelter. Mayor Coble invited United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano to join him at the event and related press conference and also to meet with city and community leaders at a working luncheon to discuss the community's 10-Year Plan implementation. Among those attending the city hall working luncheon (pictured here) were Mayor Coble, Mack Bennett, Chairman of United Way; Ike McLeese, President of the Chamber of Commerce; Matt Kennell, Executive Director of City Center Partnership; Jim Apple, President of First Citizen Bank; Dr. Moss Blachmon, educator & researcher; South Carolina Cares Chairman Sam Tenenbaum; Rick Silver, Principal, Chernoff Newman; Charles Austin, City Manager; and Council Regional Coordinator Michael German.
Earlier, Director Mangano and Mayor Coble visited with volunteers and some of the 218 homeless men and women who were assisted at the event with a variety of services including medical care, mental health and behavioral health services, housing and benefits application assistance, haircuts, wheelchair repair, job training and employment information. Breakfast, lunch and hygiene products were also available.
In NORWICH AND NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT,
Like Minneapolis/Hennepin County, the 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week events in these two Connecticut communities came just a week after southeastern Connecticut community leaders unveiled a regional 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. For Norwich and New London, which held their events on Thursday, December 9 from 9-12 and 1-3 respectively, this was their first Connect event and the first step in the implementation of their regional 10-Year Plan. The Connecticut Department of Labor Career Express Mobile Employment Assistance Van was brought to the Norwich and New London Connect event sites by trained staff. The van is equipped with a satellite dish enabling those seeking employment to use computer workstations on the van to directly access the Connecticut Job Bank and other on-line employment services and complete on-line applications.
http://www.ich.gov/newsletter/images/phc_week3.jpg
alt tag TOP l-r, is Berkeley Police Animal Control Officer Melvin Fulton, Council Regional Coordinator Cabrera, and Councilman Capitelli at the Berkeley PHC. Bottom, Quincy’s Legislative Connect.
 In BERKELEY, A YOUTH CONNECT –
For 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates followed up the success of last month's Oakland/Berkeley Connect event at the Howie Harp Center in Oakland, which provided assistance to over 500 homeless individuals and families, with 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. "Ending chronic homelessness starts with preventing it. Youth Connect is an effort to reach young homeless people before their problems compound and lead them into long term homelessness," said the mayor's senior aide Julie Sinai noting this was the second Youth Connect held by the city this year.
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 Ms. 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."
Berkeley City Councilman 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.
In QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, A LEGISLATIVE CONNECT -
Since implementation of Quincy's 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness began in 2005, the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness on the streets and in shelters in this community on the south shore of Boston has decreased from 142 to 78. The Housing First efforts led by John Yazwinski, Executive Director of Father Bill's Place, have helped move men and women off the streets into permanent housing as part of the community's 10-Year Plan. The Plan was developed by a 19-member Quincy Leadership Council on Chronic Homelessness appointed by Quincy Mayor William J. Phelan and co-chaired by South Shore Chamber of Commerce President Peter Forman, Attorney Jeffrey Graeber, and South Shore Savings Bank COO John Boucher. Mayor Phelan has supported implementation of the plan with city housing resources including HOME and CDBG funds the city receives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week, Mayor Phelan and community leaders held a "Legislative Connect" to better acquaint their elected state legislators with the community's 10 Year Plan effort and to identify state programs and budget items that could further assist the community in developing permanent supportive housing.
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