What to Expect from Project Homeless Connect?

How many will seek services?
When we started this innovative event in the Richmond region in 2007, 380 people came to get medical screenings, haircuts, and assistance with employment. Last year, in 2009 we served 741 individuals. We have been planning for almost 800 single adults this year, but staff guesstimates range from under 400 to almost 900. We are always working to increase the number of volunteers and the number of services available this year to meet what we can only anticipate to be increased need in this economic climate.

The increase from 2007 to 2009 wasn’t due to better advertising, but to increased need and to word-of-mouth. Homeward works with the network of “safety net” services (such as meal programs at area congregations) and outreach workers to let single adults experiencing homelessness know about the event and the services available. Project Homeless Connect is designed to make it easier for someone living on the streets or only marginally connected to a support system to access the community services they need to become more stable. Last year, over 95% of the clients we served rated the event, the food, the services received, and the volunteers as good or excellent and many clients got the services they needed.

What do we know about the people who try to get connected at Project Homeless Connect?
Last year, we served 741 single adults. Almost half of the people who attended the event were homeless and, of those who were homeless, almost half had been homeless for one year or more. 20% of the people we served were living on the streets or using only the cold weather shelter to get out of the elements. While the majority of clients overall had their last permanent place to live in the City of Richmond, we served people from Chesterfield County, Henrico County, Hanover County, and other parts of the state.

The individuals we served ranged in age from 19 to 81. As you may know, we limit services to those over the age of 18 in order to meet an unmet need in our community for services for homeless single adults, especially those living on the streets. While some of the people seeking services have children living with them, anyone who brings children to this event will be referred to the Department of Social Services for more appropriate services to meet their needs. We do our best to ensure that no one leaves the event hungry, but we are not able to offer other services to anyone under 18.

How does the day go and what makes the volunteer experience unique?
We open the event for clients at 9am and close the doors at 3pm. Most people come for services between 9am and 12:30pm. Volunteers arrive at 8am or 8:30am if they have already received training. The past three years, clients started lining up at 7am and by 12:30pm, there was a line out the door and around the corner as we tried to match a volunteer with each person seeking services. In the morning, volunteers will wait in line to get connected with an individual seeking services. Matching people seeking services one-to-one with community volunteers makes this event unique, sets the tone of hospitality, hope, and optimism, and gives us the courage to talk about ending homelessness in our community. For those of you serving as navigators, you may spend much of the day waiting with the person you are matched with. You may be waiting for employment services or the results of a vision screening. It is in these moments together that you will both have the opportunity to make a connection that could lead to change. I don’t want to set too high of an expectation, because you may make a connection that takes years to bear fruit.

What’s different about this year’s event?
We have made several improvements to this year’s Project Homeless Connect in order to meet the increased need in our community and to incorporate the feedback we received from last year’s participants. One of the biggest changes is the increased volunteer recruitment. This year, we hope to be able to maximize the number of people in need of services who receive one-on-one attention and assistance in prioritizing and navigating the services available.

We are working to increase the number of services available. One thing we are happiest about is the number of barbers and hair stylists who are volunteering for the event. Not only does a haircut make someone feel better, but a haircut can help in a job interview. Haircuts are always a popular component of our service fairs for people experiencing homelessness and we are grateful to the volunteers who will provide this service at Project Homeless Connect. We are also working with our corporate, public, and non-profit partners to expand and enhance the employment and housing section of the event to better meet the needs of single adults experiencing homelessness.

Can I make a donation to make Project Homeless Connect possible?
To increase the personal relationship between volunteers and clients, we have made it possible for volunteers to make donations towards making Project Homeless Connect possible for each client that attends. Volunteers will be able to make donations that will go directly towards event costs like a providing the clients they are matched with a warm meal, needed resources to connect to employment opportunities and training, and needed documents like birth certificates. Please visit http://www.homewardva.org/donatenow to make a donation towards Project Homeless Connect.

Besides this one-day event, what is our community doing to help single adults get out of homelessness?
Project Homeless Connect is one of our key strategies to address the needs of people living on the streets or those who are marginally connected to a support system. As part of the Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region, Homeward is working with our public and non-profit partners to increase access to permanent housing, treatment for mental health disorders, and substance abuse recovery programs. We are also working with the criminal justice community to improve re-entry planning and services for people who have been incarcerated. To learn more about the Ten Year Plan and our community strategies, please visit http://www.homewardva.org/aboutus

What about homeless families?
Project Homeless Connect is not designed to meet the needs of homeless families. The Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region lays out a number of strategies to connect families experiencing and at risk of homelessness to the housing and supportive services they need to increase their housing stability. One promising strategy is to partner with the child welfare providers to make sure that youth aging out of foster care and families at risk receive the support they need. Another new program in our community is called rapid re-housing. Rapid re-housing is a way to reduce the length of time people live in homeless shelters by connecting them to housing and community-based services. For more information on this topic, please see our website at www.homewardva.org.

What else can I do to help?
We hear from many people who want to make a difference and wonder how they can have an impact. There are several ways you can continue your involvement in preventing and ending homelessness. For a list of volunteer opportunities or organizational needs, please call “211”, visit our website at www.homewardva.org or, check out the list of needed items at www.connectirchmond.org. Embrace Richmond is an organization which works with faith communities interested in homelessness. You can learn more at www.embracerichmond.org. Several of our non-profit partners work with volunteers throughout the year to meet the needs of their clients. Again, you can find a listing of some of those agencies and their needs on our website. And, of course, all non-profits, Homeward included, depend on financial support to maintain their programs. Contact the agency you are interested in to learn how you can help.

For those of you who may be interested in continuing your connection with an individual served at Project Homeless Connect, we recommend that you partner in this effort with one of the agencies working to address needs comprehensively.