Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness
Project Homeless Connect Guide
Project Homeless ConnectTable of Contents
Background Information
What is a Project Homeless Connect?
What is the history of Project Homeless Connect?
What are the goals of Project Homeless Connect events?
Funding an Event
How should we fund this event?
How do we get sponsors or in-kind donations?
Who should hold the money for the event? What about the donations?
Local Structure for an Event
What is the goal of our local project homeless connect event?
Who should be on the planning committee?
What subcommittees should we have?
When should we have this event?
Location and Venue
Where should we hold the event?
How should we set the event up?
How do guests move through the event?
Data Collection and HMIS
What data should we collect?
Should we use HMIS for data collection?
When should we collect this data?
What about client privacy on the day of the event?
What about client privacy in data publication?
Service Provision
What services should we offer?
How do we recruit service providers, and keep track of them?
Should we provide a meal?
Should we give free items away?
Should we have live music?
Can we have religious organizations there, if we’re using money from the state?
Volunteers for a PHC
What about volunteers?
How many volunteers do you need?
How do we recruit volunteers?
What information do volunteers need before they show up?
How do we thank volunteers? Should we ask the volunteers for feedback?
Guests and Public Relations
How do we get guests to the event?
How do we use the event to raise awareness? How do we get media attention?
Would elected officials be interested in attending the event? How do we get them there?
Evaluating your Event and Preparing for Future Events
How should we evaluate the event?
How should we prepare to have an even better event for next year?
What information do volunteers need before they show up?
How do we thank volunteers? Should we ask the volunteers for feedback?
Frequently Asked Questions
Background Information
What is a Project Homeless Connect (PHC)?
A Project Homeless Connect is a one-day community-oriented event to offer help. In Michigan, the event is a collaboration of the local Continuum of Care (CoC), and endeavors to draw in all the resources in the community that can support people and families in times of crisis. This ranges from the typical social service providers, to free haircuts and massages.
A Project Homeless Connect offers services to all those in need. This is the basic premise of the event; however, the need of each individual guest who attends the event is very different. Guests at a PHC who are in a shelter may already be receiving the majority of the services offered, but could benefit from free haircuts or a massage. For newly homeless people, PHCs promote services made available to clients and help explain how people may apply for them.
What is the history of Project Homeless Connect?
The first Project Homeless Connect was held October 2004 in San Francisco and was put on by the then-Mayor of San Francisco. He wanted to do something different—knock down barriers, improve access to services for homeless – so he called together all the city agencies that served the homeless and organized a one day, one stop event. Two hundred and fifty city employees were surprised to find that five hundred and fifteen homeless people came to access services. The event in San Francisco is now held bi-monthly and is a major component of the advocacy effort to end homelessness there.
What are the goals of Project Homeless Connect events?
A Project Homeless Connect is a powerful advocacy statement. By gathering local homeless service providers, local medical and dental providers, local landlords or housing developments, and local businesses in a single place, the community is making a statement that those who are in poverty and/or homeless are part of the community and should be assisted in times of need.
A Project Homeless Connect increases outreach to the “new homeless” and those who are “newly impoverished” by economic circumstances. Framing the event as a welcoming, community-oriented event creates a non-threatening atmosphere for those who are embarrassed or otherwise unsure how to approach the social safety net.
A Project Homeless Connect raises awareness in the community. A well-planned event can bring awareness to many different groups of people. After a presentation about homelessness in the community, community groups could do a basic needs drive for the event, or organize a group to volunteer. Engage many different types of people: students, the retired, civic groups, churches. This is an opportunity to both inform about the need, as well as offer an opportunity to address it.
A Project Homeless Connect strengthens the local Continuum of Care. Even though a Connect event is a single day event, the effects of the event will last much longer than that day. The collaboration and networking involved in the event – especially from providers visiting each other’s booths – can recruit new members to the CoC, increase the number of cross-provider referrals and increase access to services the rest of the year.
Funding an Event
How should we fund this event?
The Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness has, historically, offered grants of $500 dollars to communities who are holding PHC events. The RFP period for the 2012-2013 grant cycle is currently open. There are some restrictions regarding the use of the funds.
What Funds Can Be Used For- Facility rental
- On-site staff (security, facilities maintenance; NOT volunteers or services workers)
- Food (on-site meals, take away meals, food truck rental, commodity food)
- Hygiene items
- Printing (flyers, advertising, t-shirts, nametags, banners)
- Bus tokens or public transportation rental
- Filing or administrative fees to obtain identification (birth certificates, drivers licenses, or Social Security cards
- HMIS data entry – for PHC data only
- Raffle Items
- Gas cards or gift cards
- Food/meals only for volunteers
- Entertainment
- Lodging
- Travel costs (i.e. mileage)
- Expenses not directly related to the Project Homeless Connect event
If there are questions from current grantees about the use of the funds, they may contact the MCAH Volunteer Coordinator at (517) 853-3887 or
Contributions of money from individuals, local businesses and non-profits, as well as large corporations should make up the rest of the cash budget. The mini-grant from MCAH is not intended to cover the entire cost of the event. Some events have found success in asking for small donations from each service provider present at the event – $10 or so – that helped defray the costs of the event. Other events have had good success soliciting support from the local community in the form of event sponsorships.
Where donations of money are infeasible, in-kind donations from similar groups should be considered. In-kind donations are donations of goods and services rather than money. Local churches may provide a meal or donate toiletries that were collected by church members. Local CoC members may be able to pass on donations that would be more useful at a PHC event.
Businesses may want to have a corporate volunteer day, giving their employees time off to volunteer. Individual members of the community may wish to volunteer at your event – even within professional capacities, such as accountants, doctors, and dentists. Time, goods, and services are all in-kind donations that can help your event stretch their cash budget.
How do we get sponsors or in-kind donations?
In the local community it is important to make a case for how the issue of homelessness affects them and how Project Homeless Connect is part of the solution. Not everyone is aware of the effects of homelessness on their community and so local businesses and individuals may not know why you are asking for contributions. Presenting a case should be data driven – how many people are homeless in your local community? Why are they homeless? How has PHC helped people in the past? All of these things can help create a case for community involvement in the event.
The easiest way to get monetary and in-kind donations is to ask for them. Be clear what you are asking for: money, goods or time. Asking for contributions in person is best, by phone second best, and by letter probably least effective. Be sure to follow up with requests, and to thank people for their time. Local church organizations, local civic organizations, and local schools are good sources for donations of basic needs – clothing and food, as well as volunteers. Assign each organization a specific type of donation (i.e. hygiene items, non-perishables, mittens, hats, gloves) and make it a competition!
It is important to make it easy for potential donors to give to your event. Make sure that there are mechanisms in place for money to be received by the fiduciary organization.Ensure that it is easy to give a receipt to the donor for their tax records.
When approaching large businesses, such as Wal-Mart or Meijer, be cognizant of their “giving periods.” They often process all the requests for sponsorship during a specific time period during the year and refuse any other requests. Soliciting donations from these types of businesses may require some foresight. Donations from corporations and manufacturers may not give full sized products, but samples instead.
Who should hold the money for the event? What about the donations?
One organization should act as fiduciary for the event. The organization should have the backing of the CoC. They will need the capacity to accept and track monetary and in-kind donations and deliver the appropriate receipts.
In-kind donations of goods will require storage. If the designated fiduciary does not have the storage space, collaboration in the CoC may be required to store those items.
Local Structure for an Event
What is the goal of our local project homeless connect event?
It is important to develop a clear understanding of the purpose of the event in your local community – why have a PHC and what your expected outcomes are. A clear purpose for the event is important when gaining buy-in from the Continuum of Care for support in planning the event. You must also consider attaining buy in from the community in order to execute the event.
PHC event should have a goal to reach a certain specific number of people in the community, and provide each of them with a certain number of services. Determining these numbers is a result of research. How many guests have come to previous PHC events? What is the need in your local community? How many people need housing, versus food assistance, versus other kinds of assistance?
The specific numbers will depend upon the capacity of the local community. Do not stress over what another CoC had at their PHC event – the composition of their CoC is different, and therefore had different goals. Focus instead on attainable and realistic goals for your community. Think about increasing your outreach to the newly homeless or reaching out to more people than the previous year, instead. Tie your goals to new funding sources or seasonal concerns.
Some goals are qualitative. General goals like strengthening the local CoC and making an advocacy effort are hard to reduce to numbers, but are tangible, nonetheless. If goals are qualitative, it is important to be aware of stories that show that these goals have been obtained.
Goals don't mean anything unless you measure them. When you set your goals, you will need to determine a process with which you could measure your goals. What data points would be necessary to collect from guests/clients? What questions should you ask clients about their experiences at the event?
Who should be on the planning committee?
The planning team should consist of people with lots of connections to others in the community, who know how to lead. They should be people who have the time, energy, and passion to devote to the event.
Organize a planning team with leadership structure, starting with an event director, or committee chair, then with a small core group of organizers who are accountable to the director or chair. The decisions of the core group should consist of those who are informed about homeless and formerly homeless, advisories from partner groups, such as the local continuum of care, as well as those who have seen a successful PHC event.
Too large of a committee can lead to stagnation and inefficient meetings and planning. It is important to strike a balance between “many hands make light work” and “too many cooks in the kitchen” – be judicious in choosing people to be on the planning committee, versus those who are dedicated volunteers on whom the planning committee can rely.
What subcommittees should we have?
In our experience, four subcommittees can cover all of the major to-do items that are associated with the Project Homeless Connect event.
Venue:
This committee is responsible for choosing a site and a date for when the site is available. Once a site has been selected, this committee will obtain a floor plan of the venue and assess the amenities at the site. This includes locating power outlets, Ethernet ports, and phone lines as appropriate.
This committee is also responsible for the way guests navigate throughout event. This means creating signs, as well as designating entrances for intake and exits for discharge so that appropriate data is collected at the event. This committee is also responsible for setting up the event (and knowing what supplies are needed by the service providers) and breaking down the event.
Services:
The first thing the service committee is responsible for is setting goals: how many services will be offered? What types? This committee will then recruit the services and service providers for the PHC event. All service providers should offer an actionable service at the event and should market their offerings to guests.
Volunteers:
This subcommittee is responsible for the recruitment, training and retention of the volunteers required to make the event run. The committee will set a goal for the number of volunteers needed for the day, and then recruit volunteers from local churches and civic organizations. They should enlist partners on the Continuum of Care with ties to local volunteer pools to employ more regular volunteers for the day.
Guests:
Without guests, there would be no PHC. This committee sets a goal for attendance for homeless and at-risk community members, advertises, organizes outreach efforts, and arranges transportation for the day of the event.
When should we have this event?
The date of the event usually coincides with the purpose of your event. The population you want to focus on, the data you want to collect, or the community partners you want to engage may all influence your decision as to what date to hold your Project Homeless Connect event. You may also want to consider the weather at that time of year, availability of volunteers (especially college students), the amount of services/donations available (especially Big Box retailer donations), and the target population’s availability.
Tips from around the state:
- Do the event in conjunction with the required Point-in-Time count in January
- Do the event at the beginning of February to discourage people from taking out Tax Return Loans
- Do the event the same time/day/location as a local food truck
- Plan your event around School count day, to encourage parents to make sure their kids are in school – Third Wednesday after the first day of school in September.
- Focus on employment opportunities around Labor Day
- Focus on veterans around Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day
Location and Venue
Where should we hold the event?
The majority of events held in the 2011-2012 grant year were held either at local churches (10) or at service providers themselves (2). Community centers, including senior centers, school district multipurpose centers, and Knights of Columbus halls, were also host to the event (16). Schools (1), colleges (1), fairgrounds (2), and libraries (1) round out the list of places where PHC events have been held. The important thing is to choose a venue that fits your specific needs (as far as space, expected outcome, etc.)
The venue or location of your event is one of the most important decisions of the planning process. The venue for the event needs to be easily accessed by public transportation, welcoming, and well known in the community. Consider estimates of potential attendance, and the size of venues in the area. The location needs to be chosen with a “flow” to the event in mind. Where will guests begin their day? Where will they end their day? The ability to control traffic, especially if your event will attract an upwards of 100 people, is very important. The venue also has to be large enough to accommodate both the services you wish to offer and the guests you wish to invite.