Project Homeless Connect: Beyond a One Day Event

Project Homeless Connect is a one day one-stop-shop model for persons experiencing homelessness. The idea of a "one-stop-shop" and "no wrong door" is something that you often hear about in homeless services and Project Homeless Connect is an embodiment of this idea. It brings community leaders come together to bring services, from housing to haircuts to ids to giveaways, together in one place. There have been more than 300 events in over 170 communities in less than three years. Each event stands alone and is organized by the community in which it takes place. It's so cutting edge that they are using videos on YouTube to spread the word:


One of the major criticisms of Project Homeless Connect is that it is a ONE DAY one stop shop. It would be impossible to bring together all of these services in the career-fairish way that Project Homeless Connect does on a daily basis but there are some programs that are beginning to try to deliver a breadth of services with one point of entry.

For the City's Homeless: A One Stop Center
Mercury News, May 17, 2008

[Christine Burroughs] described how the new operation would work for an estimated 7,000 chronically homeless folks in the county and thousands more in danger of losing their homes. Caseworkers would determine their housing needs, physical and mental health, and qualifications for government, insurance or other financial assistance. The next step would be to help them apply for benefits and services.

Black Man Guilty of Murder

Homeless Man Guilty of Murder
The Gazette, 2/10/2008

A jury has found Joseph Roy Martin, a Montreal homeless man with a drug and alcohol problem, guilty of second degree murder.

On Sunday morning, the six men and six women, who had been deliberating since Friday, found Martin, 33, guilty of fatally stabbing 48-year-old Alain Lachapelle.

Homeless Man Arrested after Swinging at a Davenport Cop
Quad-City Times, 2/10/2008

The man attended a press conference at Davenport City Hall. Mayor Bill Gluba and representatives of local companies such as Alcoa had gathered to voice support for the federal government giving a $40 billion contract for new air refueling planes to Boeing because the Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer would outsource work to local companies.

After the meeting Daniel Robert Stromberg, 42, asked Gluba if he could speak with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who was not at the press conference.

Gluba said the man was obviously distraught and ranting, and city staff tried to calm him down.

According to police affidavits, Stromberg eventually left City Hall, but when he was approached by police at 3rd and Ripley streets, he tried to punch a detective.

It's not every day that you see stories like these... it's several times a day. Oftentimes the fact that someone is homeless is identified right in the headline of news articles, if not the very first word. Why is it so important to make sure that the housing status is front and center?

Then, when you actually read the article, you will oftentimes see that there is more going on than homelessness. In the cases above alcoholism and mental illness are noted to be at play. Why aren't these used as the adjective in the title? Is it because "alcoholic" and "mentally ill" are not PC? Why is "Homeless Man" PC?

Beyond the fact that the entire existence of these individuals is summed up in their homelessness, what about the fact that there is a very important word left out of the first title: Found. Even in typing the title out I accidentally wrote "... Man Found Guilty..." That's a key word in the court system today but apparently this man was so low that he didn't even deserve to have it in the title.

It's not just two random articles. Watch the news feeds, daily you will see at least two articles that highlight one's homelessness with one's bad behavior, rarely the other way around.

Your sentence is... to live as a homeless person for a whole 24 hours!

Man Sentenced to Live as Homeless
United Press International, 1/26/2008

A judge in Ohio sentenced a man convicted of stealing a Salvation Army kettle to live 24 hours as a homeless person.

Painesville Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti gave Nathen Smith a choice -- serve a 90-day jail sentence, or live 24 hours as a homeless man and serve only three days in jail, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.

Personally, I think that this is completely ridiculous and degrading to those who do live on the streets. I understand that the judge is trying to give a sentence that applies to the crime but what does living as homeless for one night do? The man who is being sentenced knows that he's going back to his bed the next day. He doesn't have to deal with trying to figure out how he's going to get a job or how he's going to eat. Why not sentence him to volunteer with the salvation army or make a donation to the organization? Those options would connect the punishment to the crime and would actually give back to the community. I don't get what the whole frenzy is around "living as homeless," I don't think that doing this for 24 hours really teaches anyone anything except that homelessness is a joke and a game.

Violence Against the Homeless

4 Youths Arrested in Attacks on Homeless
Los Angeles Times 7/19/07

Four teenage boys were arrested for allegedly driving around Los Angeles and attacking homeless people while using a cellphone camera to capture some of the assaults, LAPD officials said Monday.

The youths allegedly attacked at least eight homeless people either by throwing smoke bombs or firing plastic pellets from an air pistol at them and in one case throwing a bike into a homeless person's tent as he slept.

Police said the suspects filmed some of the attacks with a cellphone camera, and the attackers intended to post the recordings on the Internet.

A horrific incident? Yes. Shocking? Sadly no. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless attacks on homeless people was up 65% from 2005 to 2006, and these are only the incidents that were reported and confirmed. This spring it was highly publicized that a Florida youngster was facing charges for his treatment of a homeless man, nearly beating him to death if I remember correctly.

What is wrong with these kids? It may not be what is wrong with them but rather what is wrong with society. In a conversation I had this spring with Vicki Wagner, Chief Executive Office for the National Network For Youth, she mentioned that in her thirty years of working to end youth homelessness one of the changes has been that society today views homelessness as a nuisance rather than a problem that we should work to solve. That may be what is wrong with these kids.


EDIT: One day later and already two more similar stories:
Homeless man slain-- teenager sought
San Francisco Chronicle 7/20/07

3 Statesville Teams Charged in Beating Death of Homeless Man
WRAL.com 7/20/07

EDIT: Another day, another article:
Belfast Court Appearance for Man Charged wit Death of Homeless Man
Belfast Telegraph 7/21/07

EDIT:
Arkno Duo Attack Two Elderly Homeless Men
Cleavland.com 7/23/07