We had another very busy and successful project Homeless Connect event in Springfield today. Here are the numbers that summarize what took place:
Estimated 750 guests: people who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness
More than 300 volunteers
70 vendors: service provider agencies, state and city departments, landlords
HOUSING
- 25 people housed
- 587 people received ‘housing triage’ counseling from trained housing counselors
- 503 completed applications for public and Section 8 housing
IDENTIFICATION
- 307 people obtained Massachusetts IDs
- 381 people ordered birth certificates
ADVOCACY
- 230 people obtained advocacy and advice about consumer, legal and tax issues.
HEALTH
- 166 people applied for MassHealth
- 50 people obtained health exams/direct medical care, and 25 people made follow-up medical appointments
- 1 person transported to the emergency room
- 49 people received foot care
- 20 people obtained mental health screens, and 13 mental health appointments were made
- 5 people were admitted to detox programs
- 192 blood sugar screens completed
- 94 hypertension screenings completed
- 113 dental screenings completed
- 25 TB tests completed
- 317 pairs of reading glasses distributed
EMPLOYMENT
- 40 people received resume assistance
- 82 women received business suits for job interviews
INCOME & PUBLIC BENEFITS
- 17 applications for Social Security Administration benefits
- 28 people applied for food stamps
VETERANS SERVICES
- 19 people completed applications for veterans benefits
- 95 accessed veterans services, with 26 follow-up appointments made
OTHER
- 260 people obtained haircuts
- 131 people received chair massages
- 180 PVTA bus tickets were given out
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR GUESTS’ LIVING SITUATION
It is always a challenge to get full information about all our guests. Intakes were completed for 518 guests. Information below is taken from these intakes.
- 26% are actually homeless
- 15% are precariously housed, often staying with friends or family
- 60% are in housing
We collected exit surveys from 100 guests. 97 of these guests indicated that Project Homeless Connect was helpful and they accessed things they needed. The most common answers for the question “what was the most important thing you received today?” were housing, housing information, and identification.
