Project Homeless Connect is a one-stop shop for services and resources. Everything from job assistance to haircuts to eye exams to foot massages will be offered at the 12th annual resource fair happening Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in central Vancouver for people without homes.
The trick is getting people there.
“Transportation is always the major issue with this event,” said David Bilby, who heads Go Connect, one of the groups organizing the event.
In an effort to increase attendance, the fair expanded transportation options to include a shuttle system and a hotline people can call to get picked up wherever they may be and driven to St. Joseph.
“I’m calling it the Project Homeless Connect Uber,” Bilby said, referring to the popular ride-hailing app.
A handful of on-call volunteers will use their personal vehicles to pick up guests, take them to the resource fair and afterwards drop them off wherever they’d like to go. It’s first come, first served — sort of like the taxi line at the airport. People can call or text 1-866-219-1394 with their name and location to request a ride to Project Homeless Connect.
Vans will pick up people from shelters, Share Fromhold Service Center, Friends of the Carpenter, Washougal, the Vancouver Navigation Center and North County Food Bank in Battle Ground.
There is also a C-Tran bus stop in front of St. Joseph. Bilby said one year someone donated $1,000 for bus passes, but it didn’t increase the number of guests at the resource fair; he figures people used the passes for some other need.
Somewhere between 30 and 40 volunteers help put on the event, which last year was attended by 285 people. Those who come to Project Homeless Connect can expect an array of free resources and services including haircuts, foot washings and massages, employment resources, eyeglasses, socks and shoes, hygiene items, help signing up for services or benefits and a hot lunch. New this year: Clark College dental program students will offer teeth cleanings.
Anyone without a home is encouraged to attend. It runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.
That same morning, outreach teams will conduct the annual Point in Time count, a countywide census of the homeless population. Teams find people who are living outside or in their cars, conduct a survey and invite them to the resource fair. The survey includes voluntary questions regarding an individual’s last permanent ZIP code, demographics and the circumstances that contributed to their homelessness.
Emergency shelters, meal sites and those attending Project Homeless Connect will be counted. Additionally, agencies such as school resource centers, The Salvation Army in Washougal and North County Food Bank will survey guests who visit their facilities and may be experiencing homelessness. The aim is for a single-day snapshot of homelessness in Clark County. People will not be counted more than once.
More than 3,000 areas across the country will conduct Point in Time counts this month to gather information about homelessness.
