Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless will conduct the next Project Homeless Connect on Saturday, January 30, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at The Coliseum, 535 Fourth Avenue North, in St. Petersburg. For further information, call (727) 528-5763 or visit the Project Homeless Connect website (click here).

The Sathya Sai Baba Service Organization is volunteering over 80 doctors and nurses, and St. Anthony’s Hospital will provide the lab work and other related medical services. WorkNet Pinellas is coordinating the presence of their mobile employment unit and other employers. The Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless and the Homeless Leadership Network are dedicating time, staff, contacts and fiscal agent responsibilities to this effort. The Veterans Administration and Bay Pines Hospital is a big contributor, as many homeless are our vets. Many other organizations, churches and individuals are stepping forward with their time and other meaningful donations.

This event is primarily funded through donations and/or sponsorships. There is a great need for donations of all kinds to offset the expenditures that are incurred. Some of those costs includes: financial support for food (continental breakfast and lunch for participants), T-shirts for the volunteers, portable sinks to wash individual’s hair for haircutting, Florida picture identification cards from the DMV, bus passes, gas for the vehicles transporting the participants, essential items for backpacks, and other miscellaneous costs. In addition to PCCH, current sponsors include: Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc., Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, City of St. Petersburg, Operation PAR, Inc., Pinellas County Health and Human Services, Sathya Sai Baba Organization, St. Anthony's Health Care, and The Salvation Army.

Donors may support Project Homeless Connect by making a tax-deductible contribution to the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. (PCCH), and writing "Project Homeless Connect" on the memo line of your check. Please mail your contribution to: PCCH, 5180 62^nd Ave. N., Pinellas Park, 33781. For even greater convenience, you may make your contribution online safely and securely by clicking one of the following links: PCCH or PHC.

If you have any other questions or concerns please feel free to contact event co-chairs Rhonda Abbott at 893-7627 or Sarah Snyder at 528-5762.

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Volunteers

About 1,200 volunteers have registered to ensure that this will be a successful and meaningful day and a means to a make a marked difference in the lives of those who are homeless or in need. Last year, over 500 people gave of their time, talent and treasure. Volunteers are serving in a variety of volunteer positions. Here's a list of brief descriptions of the volunteer committees:

Volunteers – responsible for all volunteer activity; recruiting, keeping data base of volunteers, training for day of event, identifying and organizing lead volunteers for different needed functions. Determining who works when, where and for how long.
Food – responsible for continental breakfast and lunch for the recipients; and for lunch for the volunteers, includes beverages, water. (Discussion needs to take place regarding food for the vendors)
Transportation – responsible for developing the transportation route for all of Pinellas County to transport recipients to the event; must arrange for the buses and drivers, ensuring the ability to transport people with disabilities. Also responsible for arranging the volunteer and vendor parking the day of the event.
Sponsorship & Marketing – this committee seeks sponsorship funding for the event; is in charge of all marketing materials, contacts, radio, TV, etc. for the event.
Donations – this committee is responsible for seeking donations of all recipients' "gifts", such as clothing, shoes, underwear, blankets, personal hygiene items, etc., to be received the day of the event; may include other items as determined by the over all committee.
Service Providers – in charge of recruiting providers who serve the homeless and the at risk of becoming homeless population; also includes housing, school, employer providers; develop data base to keep track of providers, tables, electrical needs, etc; provide written and verbal instructions for providers regarding expectations the day of the event.
Medical – Dr. Kamath oversees this function; works with Health Dept, St. Anthony's Hospital, VA Dental Services, Lion's Club (eyeglasses). Generally responsible for food for medical volunteers.
Other Misc. Vendors/Providers – responsible for all other vendors outside of medical and service providers to include the following: ID Mobile Van, Bicycle services, Interpreters, Spiritual Counseling.
Personal Care – includes recruiting hair dressers, manicurists, pedicurists (?) and all equipment needed for those services; recruits massage/acupuncture services.
Child Care – is responsible for recruiting care givers, and any entertainment for the child care area for the day of the event; develops system to keep track of parents during the event,
Customer Services – this committee is responsible for the facility, logistics, registration/data entry, point in time survey, security, tents, sinks, toilets/port-o-lets.
T- Shirts – responsibility for finding the best deal for T-shirts for approximately 500 volunteers – details of the T-shirt to be determined as sponsorships come in.
Legal – Stetson University students will be responsible for the duties that fall under this committee; recruit all agencies related to legal assistance, public defender's office, etc.
Veterans Administration – all services and goods provided by the VA for the community's vets.

This year, there will be live musical performances from local soloists, groups and bands. These artists have volunteered to share their talents to help uplift the spirits of the participants and volunteers of Project Homeless Connect.

"Give a day. Get a ticket." This year Disney Parks is celebrating the good things people do for their communities. In 2010, Disney wants to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service to a participating organization in their communities and celebrate their good works by giving each of them one day admission to a theme park at Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort, free. Guests can go to www.disneyparks.com to search for volunteer opportunities made available through HandsOn Network and sign up for a day of volunteer service such as Project Homeless Connect.

There are several options for the event parking. Here's information you may read and download: click here.

Although inclement weather is forecasted for Saturday, the event will be conducted as scheduled. Tents with sides will cover the vendor booths, registration area and the stage outside. Volunteers and participants are urged to dress in layers, as we will likely experience cool outdoor temperatures. All health services will be provided inside the Coliseum.

Here are some instructions for service provider volunteers who will staff the booths at the event:

Please, if at all possible, come this Friday to set up between the hours of 1-5 as volunteers will be setting up the tables on Friday morning. Without a table, you will not be able to set up. When you return on Saturday, there will be a packet of information on your table that includes the information form, client tally sheet, and the end of the day report, all which were e-mailed to you earlier so you would be familiar with them.
The weather at this point is supposed to be mid 60’s with a chance of rain. There will be tents outside, but please plan on dressing in layers so that you can adjust to the weather. Also, there is no storage for purses or other personal items, so make sure that you have enough pockets to store what you need.
There is a slight chance of some parking being available in the city lot number 4, which is located on the north side of 2nd Avenue North between 4th and 5th Streets. Please do not park in the eastern-most row of parking as these are reserved for St. Peter’s as indicated by posted signs. However, if you are unable to find any parking in lot 4, please go to the lot 6 area of Tropicana Field so that you can be shuttled in.
On the day of the event, please do not provide services to people that do not have a numbered name tag on – if you see such people, please direct them back to the registration area to sign up and take a survey.
A map of the layout in the parking lot will be e-mailed to you later this week so you can have an idea of where your organization will be.

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Background

Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is an annual one-day, one-stop, under-one-roof event offering free health, human and personal care services to homeless individuals and families (including homeless veterans and children) and other low-income, indigent, uninsured persons in Pinellas County, Florida. It is a one-stop “customer focused” venue connecting homeless individuals with a continuum of services and consolidating available products and services, such as, medical care, legal counseling, substance abuse treatment, employment, haircuts, acupuncture, etc. and a variety of social services that can help lead to self sufficiency.

This event is a partnership with local city and county government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector to provide much needed services including medical, dental, benefits, legal, free eyeglasses, Florida IDs, food, bike repair, haircuts and more. Our goal for this January’s event is to provide 1,200 homeless individuals and families with services that will move them more quickly toward health care, housing and stability. We want them to receive at least one service that day that will make a difference in their life.

PHC is based on the national best practice model that originated in San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom in October 2004. Starting as a grassroots effort, engaging citizens, nonprofit organizations, government, churches, employers and corporations, PHC is now implemented in 106 cities across the United States as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia. This program is implemented in coordination with the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, which provides guidance to those cities that are organizing these types of events. Their website for more detailed information is: www.ich.gov/slocal/NationalProjectHomelessConnectPromo.html.

In September 2007, the City of St. Petersburg hosted the first Project Homeless Connect in Pinellas County, joining more than 115 cities of every size from coast to coast that has conducted these events. Held at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg, the event drew close to 1,000 people served by 400 volunteers and 40 medical and 50 social service providers. We also provided haircuts, massages, spiritual guidance, back packs, food, clothing, bike repairs, employment and housing counseling, vocational advice, educational information and more. In 2008, Project Homeless Connect was held at the Harborview Center in Clearwater. Just over 1,000 people were served by over 600 volunteers and 200 medical, social and personal services staff.

Prior to Pinellas County’s first PHC, the PCCH conducted Stand Downs and medical camps periodically throughout the county, working with a local community service arm of a physician’s organization, Sathya Sai Baba.

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