Project Homeless Connect a Success in St. Paul and Ramsey County

On Monday, June 19, 2006, Ramsey County, the City of Saint Paul, and the Saint Paul Police Department partnered with service providers, businesses, citizens and faith communities in an effort to take a step toward ending homelessness in the Twin Cities.

This collaborative effort is known as Project Homeless Connect, a national one-stop shop model for delivering services to people experiencing homelessness.

More than 20 organizations and agencies worked together to organize the event and recruit over 250 volunteers with the goal of serving individuals directly at the St. Paul Armory.

For one day, people experiencing homelessness were given the opportunity to take advantage of accessing an array of services, a system which is often difficult to understand and subsequently navigate. Services offered included housing referrals/information, employment services, medical care, mental health care, benefits advice, haircuts, food and clothing, legal services, veterans services and much more.

After learning about the overwhelming success of Project Homeless Connect in various cities around the country, including two events in Minneapolis, leaders in the east metro area were motivated to take on the challenge.

As a result, 812 households, equating to nearly 1,000 individuals, were served by more than 80 service providers. Over 100 people met with an attorney or someone in the legal field to get consultation, over 200 individuals received help with employment, 100 people received haircuts, Ramsey County took 44 applications for Emergency Assistance (this is the amount they would normally do in one week!), and much more.

There definitely will be other Project Homeless Connect events in the future, and organizers are discussing whether these should happen annually or biannually.

It has been obvious that the majority of people involved with Project Homeless Connect, whether organizing the event, volunteering, or receiving services, had a positive experience. Volunteers responsible for the intake of guests enjoyed the personal interactions they were able to have.

“As a volunteer, having the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with people helped me feel more connected to the positive things we were trying to achieve. So many volunteer opportunities are so disconnected from the people that are being served. When it comes down to it, if we want our communities to take serious action on the issue of homelessness, we need to start filling in gaps between people of different backgrounds by building those
relationships,” said Tim Harlan-Marks, a community member and volunteer.

At the same time, guests saw the value in these interactions and ultimately felt respected by the volunteers. The potential for truly helping people through a one-day event like this is best summed up by one woman who sought services.

“They were super helpful. He told me I can get my benefits increased until the court makes a decision. This means I can buy my daughter a birthday cake for her second birthday in two weeks. I felt so bad that I wasn’t going to be able to afford a cake. My friends say my daughter won’t remember but it’s important to me that she has one. My mom was hooked on drugs and only cared about herself. I’m trying to do my best to not be like that –- to be a good mom. You go through all the services and start to feel like nobody cares and that it’s hopeless. Being here and having everyone here makes me feel like there’s someone who cares. If they took the time to put this together that means someone cares and it fills me with hope.”