The United Way of Maryland's Project Homeless Connect

PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT HARFORD COUNTY

Now for the fourth year, Project Homeless Connect comes to Harford County to help hundreds of families and individuals experiencing homelessness obtain critical resources and services to help put them back on the path to a stable life.

Thursday, January 24, 2019
APGFCU Arena
at Harford Community College
401 Thomas Run Road
Bel Air, MD 21015

PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT

Over the past six years, United Way has been proud to host Project Homeless Connect in Baltimore City. Not only does the event work to connect thousands of individuals and families to myriad services to help them move forward, it has also offered a transformative experience for the thousands of volunteers who work the event.

This year, as we work to scale the event to better meet the needs of the homeless community, Project Homeless Connect in Baltimore City will take a one-year break. During the restructure, we’ll continue to sponsor the Mission of Mercy dental clinic – a service that is high in demand and the most difficult to access. The clinic will operate on February 28th and March 1st, 2019. More information will be made available in late fall.

Volunteer opportunities are an increasingly important offering for the businesses and corporations that support United Way. This fall, a wide variety of activities have been scheduled to meet the needs of volunteer groups of all sizes—from preparing young students heading back to school, to our annual Day of Action, a series of volunteer events what unite us all in addressing a variety of challenges across our region.

ON-SITE SERVICES FOR THE LOCAL HOMELESS COMMUNITY

One of the most difficult parts about being homeless is getting around to access different services that are needed to move forward. This barrier is eliminated at our annual Project Homeless Connect event where thousands of families and individuals facing homelessness receive medical exams and screenings, haircuts, legal advice, identification, healthy food and more – all in one place at one time.

Project Homeless Connect is a national best practice model that has been replicated in over 300 cities to date. Homeless and at-risk participants are paired with a volunteer guide, who travels with the participant throughout the event, helps them access services and gets to know them over the course of the day. The personal connection formed is impactful for both the guide and the participant, creating community connections, increasing civic engagement and providing vital resources.

CULTIVATING VOLUNTEERISM & COMMUNITY

Year after year, the vast majority of participants report that their favorite part of Project Homeless Connect was sharing the day with their guide. The experience is transformative for volunteers as well: they see first hand how hard it can be to live in poverty, and many are so moved by their experience that they later go on to become engaged in other ways to give back to the community. The event is also an opportunity for service learning, and college and university students make up the majority of the volunteers. Many students and faculty report that the event helps to open their eyes to the reality of need in the community and causes them to rethink many of the stereotypes and misconceptions about poverty and homelessness.