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3rd National Project Homeless Connect Week December 3-8, 2007
More than 6,000 elected officials and community volunteers extended a "welcome" to over 10,000 homeless neighbors at events in 25 cities coast to coast during the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness' 3rd Annual National Project Homeless Connect Week. The excerpts below from coverage of a number of these events in the Council’s weekly e-newsletter provide insight into the partnerships and organizational strategies that achieved results in creating a trajectory out of homelessness by making resources more available and accessible through the one day, one stop innovation of Project Homeless Connect. More than 100 communities held Project Homeless Connect events during the 2007 calendar year.
In SAN FRANCISCO: Where it all started
"Today, here in San Francisco, Project Homeless Connect becomes the living room of the community," noted United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to join San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for the kickoff of the City's 19th PHC at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. "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 the long misery of homelessness. We are indebted to Mayor Newsom and to 10-Year Plan Chair and Champion Angela Alioto for creating this innovation, and to Alex Tourk, Judith Klain, and Trent Rohrer for their continuing support for sustainability.”
Wells Fargo was on site to offer consumer-centric banking services to the "unbanked." Mainstream financial services and access are an important element of a trajectory out of homelessness, and Wells Fargo was on hand to help as part of the City's "Bank on San Francisco" initiative to extend mainstream financial services that safeguard resources and avoid check-cashing and other fees.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS AND REUNIFICATION SUPPORTED WITH PHONE BANK. It's called the "quiet success story" of the City's PHC history: a Sprint-Nextel phone bank that "connects" guests to family and friends with whom they have lost touch. Reunification opportunities were part of the City's 10 Year Plan.
Modern means of communication are one gap closed by the phone bank, but another San Francisco example shows that personal visits also matter. Persons who are homeless in San Francisco received another source of encouragement to take part in Project Homeless Connect: a pair of local probation officers who developed a strategy to visit their probationers on the streets made sure to mention the upcoming event and urge their clients to visit and access resources.
IN HARTFORD,
Mayor Eddie Perez and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano welcomed 450 homeless neighbors to St. Patrick- St. Anthony Church and the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry. Nurses from Charter Oak Health Center provided foot-washing followed by new warm socks for guests. Mayor Perez and Director Mangano welcomed each guest to the event, along with 10 Year Plan Chair Bill Farley. United States Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director and current Regional Interagency Council Chair Brian Golden also attended the event, his fourth Project Homeless Connect event in the region.
The Hartford Continuum of Care, Hartford Commission to End Homelessness, and Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness organized the event, inviting volunteers with a recognition of the event's national implications and origins: "Every year, on a national level, thousands of community volunteers partner with city government, non-profits and the private sector to provide a one-stop shop of health and human services for homeless individuals and families. By participating, you will be raising awareness of the services you provide in the community and extending the opportunity for the homeless to connect with these services. The goal of Hartford Project Homeless Connect is to provide easy access to services and resources that support the transition of the City's homeless off the streets and/or shelters and into housing."
The Hartford Wolf Pack Hockey Team, which is an American Hockey League Team affiliated with the New York Rangers supported the event, too, when, on December 7, the team invited game attendees to enter for free by bringing coats, hats, scarves for the Project Homeless Connect. The team also provided box lunches for the one-stop.
 IN LOS ANGELES,
Project Homeless Connect events took place at four sites. Former Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Zev Yaroslavsky issued a Proclamation for the day, which directed the County Departments of Public Social Services, Mental Health, Public Health, including Alcohol and Drug Program Administration, Internal Services, Public Defender, Probation, the Sheriff, and the Los Angeles County Police to participate in the event, and to work with the Chief Executive Office to ensure effective coordination for the event. All County departments were directed to encourage their staffs to volunteer on the day of the event and accommodate reasonable requests for personal leave by County staff that chose to volunteer, and the County's Chief Executive Officer coordinated with County departments regarding deployment of County staff who worked in both an official and voluntary capacity at the event.
IN MIAMI,
Nearly 500 homeless individuals were welcomed by 200 volunteers to the third Miami Cares event. Miami Cares Day is organized by the City of Miami's Homeless Assistance Program, which aims to identify and engage homeless individuals, and to place them into appropriate housing, facilitate employability skills, create a work history and instill life management responsibilities, thereby strengthening their ties to the community. More than 90 individuals left the streets through resources accessed at the event.
"Miami Cares is a day we set aside to show that the City of Miami cares for the homeless population through catering to the participants and providing the tools to get them off the streets all in one place," said Sergio Torres, Administrator for the City of Miami's Homeless Assistance Program. The Miami Homeless Assistance Program is part of Mayor Manny Diaz's 10-Year Plan which has reduced chronic homelessness by 50%. The Plan sets a goal of providing services to hundreds of homeless individuals to engage them and help break the cycle of chronic homelessness in the city. Miami Cares is different in that it allows the homeless individual to provide his or her own diagnosis of needs. By allowing people to make their own decisions, it is the hope of the City of Miami to connect with homeless persons not engaged in services.
Partners of the Miami Cares III include City of Miami NET, Miami Rescue Mission, Miami Dade Homeless Trust, and Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.
 IN SAN JOSE/SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA,
Council Director Philip Mangano joined San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed at the City's Convention Center for San Jose's fifth PHC event with Santa Clara County. Mayor Reed, a Charter Signatory to the America's Road Home Statement, and Director Mangano participated in a mid-day rally and results update for PHC volunteers and guests. San Jose Housing Director Leslye Krutko, who participates in California Keys, the partnership of the state's 10-Year Plan cities, introduced Director Mangano. San Jose City Council members Nora Campos, Pierluigi Oliveiro, and Judy Chirco also attended the event, as did PHC Project Manager Fernando Cazares. San Jose and Santa Clara County have utilized Americorps volunteers to build their event, and the volunteers were on site for the day.
San Jose's event was marked by an extensive outreach effort, and Mayor Reed noted the need for engagement in his remarks. "The goal of the event is to reach out and make connections with the homeless people who are not currently taking advantage of all the services available in the city and the county," Mayor Reed said. "We have to do an extensive outreach effort to make sure that happens; it's been a success, and we know it works."
San Jose's Mission Community College provided volunteers who visited outdoor locations including bridges, rivers, railroad tracks, and other locations to make the PHC known to potential guests.
Just after the PHC event, Santa Clara County announced major changes in the UPLIFT transit pass program that reaches persons who are homeless, more than doubling the number of people who will be served by the program. Lack of transportation was named as a key barrier faced by individuals in accessing and keeping employment. Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) offers over 700 monthly reduced-fare bus passes to homeless clients, and the new program will offer 1,850. The UPLIFT program requires clients to receive services and meet each month with their case managers to ensure that they are taking accessing all services for which they are eligible.
IN NEW YORK CITY,
31 persons experiencing chronic homelessness moved to housing as Common Ground Community's Street to Home initiative married the engagement and one-stop elements of Project Homeless Connect with a successful targeting strategy for the streets. In Brooklyn, individuals targeted through the Street to Home registry moved to YMCA beds, supportive housing, and rented apartments.
Street to Home incorporates strategic targeting of individuals and intensive followup modeled on the successful approach used in the United Kingdom's Rough Sleepers Initiative which achieved a 75% reduction in street homelessness across England and prompted deeper investment in homelessness from Parliament.
 In DANBURY, CONNECTICUT,
The inaugural event was hosted by the United Way and the local Elks Club, and held at the Elks' facility. The Lions' Club was also a partner, offering eye exams. Special engagement strategies reached out to Spanish-speaking guests. Among the community leaders at the event were: Mark J. Nolan, Chair, Danbury Housing Partnership, USICH Regional Coordinator John O'Brien, Danbury Mayor Boughton, Milena Sangut, Co-Chair, Greater Danbury Continuum of Care, The Honorable Dianne E. Yamin, Danbury Judge of Probate, Chair, Mayor's Taskforce to End Homelessness, and Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., PhD, Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Danbury's Washington Mutual Bank, which sends bank representatives on a regular basis to help shelter guests, was at the Danbury PHC helping attendees sign up for no- fee checking accounts.
IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA,
Results were expanded over prior PHC events with over 925 homeless guests welcomed, compared to 600 at the prior event. Nearly every guest was assigned a "shepherd" to assist them with resources.
Orlando's first PHC was followed by four regional events over the summer, each designed to reach those living unsheltered in camps and other locations. The series was followed by a briefing for City Council. In East Orange County, a June PHC at University Presbyterian Church welcomed 70 guests, and, in Seminole County the same month, Sanford Civic Center welcomed over 265 guests. In July, West Orange County's Central Florida Fairgrounds was the PHC site, which hosted over 230 guests. Also in July, Osceola Christian Ministry Center in Osceola County saw over 250 guests at its PHC event. Over 40 agencies and 36 congregations took part in these events. Over 80% of those who accessed resources were not previously in the HMIS system.
At the Orlando PHC, paramedics from the Orlando Fire Department staffed a medical station to check blood pressure and blood sugar for guests as one component of health services available.
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