Project Homeless Connect launches here on June 9

Flathead Valley Project Homeless Connect will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9, at the Samaritan House Administration Building at 1110 Second St. W. in Kalispell.

Community Action Partnership and Samaritan House have joined with more than 40 local agencies, including Kalispell Regional Medical Center, the United Way and the Flathead City-County Health Department, in a dynamic partnership to re-address the way the community looks at and treats its homeless population.

Project Homeless Connect is a one-stop shop that will provide the area’s homeless people with face-to-face contact and immediate access to resources to help them move towards stability.

Medical information, services for pets, financial education, Social Security application information, disability services, veterans services, haircuts, and more will be available during the event.

Each homeless client will be matched up with a volunteer tour guide to help him or her move through the services, share a meal, and be a source of friendly conversation.

According to the National Homeless Survey conducting in January, the Flathead’s homeless population is 500, 60 percent of which are families with children and infants.

These people are not transients. According to Samaritan House data, they have been in the valley on average for two to five years.

Since its 2004 inception in San Francisco, Project Homeless Connect has changed the way the homeless are treated in more than 200 cities across the United States. This event is nationally sponsored by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

For more information about Flathead Valley Project Homeless Connect, to donate, or volunteer, call 758-5497; or visit the website, http://www.nmhr-dist10.org/project%20homelessness.html.