Springfield’s Project Homeless Connect took place yesterday at the Mass Mutual Center. The Republican story is here. Here’s a snapshot of what happened:
Estimated 1000 guests; more than 600 volunteers; 80 vendors–service provider agencies, state and city departments, landlords
HOUSING
- 13 people housed, with an expected minimum of 10 more to be housed by the end of the week due to assistance received at the event
- 642 people received ‘housing triage’ counseling from trained housing counselors
- 576 completed applications for public and Section 8 housing
- 85-90 completed applications for sober housing programs; 20 completed applications for other housing programs
IDENTIFICATION
- 398 people obtained Massachusetts IDs
- 221 people ordered birth certificates
CIVIC & ADVOCACY
- 8 people registered to vote
- 68 people obtained advice about consumer issues, with 24 intakes or follow-up appointments made
- 2 people went to court to address outstanding warrants—one of these was a homeless veteran who was able to get his license back from RMV after having the warrant lifted
- 23 people received information or advice regarding immigration issues
HEALTH
- 76 people applied for MassHealth
- 41 people obtained health exams/direct medical care
- 55 people obtained chiropractic care
- 40 people received foot care
- 2 people went to detox
- 8 applications were completed for the Statewide Head Injury Program
- 6 people obtained mental health screens, and 13 mental health appointments were made
- 150 blood sugar screens completed, and 8 people with high blood sugar provided follow-up appointments
- 110 hypertension screenings completed
- 225 dental screenings completed, with 22 follow-up appointments made
- 16 HIV/STD tests completed, with 3 follow-up appointments made
- 50 TB tests completed
- 92 skin cancer/sun damage screenings completed
- 45 eye exams completed, with anyone needed a prescription given a follow-up appointment to obtain free eyeglasses
- 244 reading glasses and 290 sunglasses distributed
INCOME & PUBLIC BENEFITS
- 21 applications for Social Security Administration application
- 25 people obtained Social Security cards
- 31 people applied for food stamps
- 20 people obtained information about fuel assistance
- 82 people received assistance with tax information & returns
- 22 people obtained information about free cell phones and minutes from SafeLink Wireless
VETERANS SERVICES
- 22 people completed applications for veterans benefits
- 35 accessed veterans services, with 6 follow-up appointments made
OTHER
- 525 people obtained haircuts
- 200 bus tickets were given out
CURRENT LIVING SITUATION OF OUR GUESTS
It is always difficult to collect information on everyone served at Homeless Connect. Our volunteers serve as escort/advocates for guests, and they take intake information–although not everyone is able to do so, and not all guests want escorts. This year, we completed intakes on 567 guests. Of these, 27% were homeless, 14% were living with friends or family in an unstable housing situation (“doubled up”), 47% were in housing (including permanent and transitional housing programs, and stable situations with family or friends), and 11% did not provide information.
