Project Homeless Connect

Project Homeless Connect is a national best practice model that originated in San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom's leadership in October 2004. Through the project, bi-monthly events are held in which over 1500 individual community volunteers partner with city government, nonprofits and the private sector to provide a one-stop shop of health and human services for homeless San Franciscans. Services include medical, dental, mental health, substance abuse, housing information, California ID, veteran services, free eyeglasses, haircuts, food, wheelchair repair, and more.

The mission of Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is to connect homeless San Franciscans with the care they need to move forward. The goals of Project Homeless Connect are to:

- Improve access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- Improve the system of care through collaboration and the sharing of best practices among San Francisco’s homeless service provider community.
- Engage and increase the involvement of the business, nonprofit community, and individual volunteers to work together to provide access to services for homeless San Franciscans.
- To leverage the private sector, corporations, and foundations to expand service capacity and funds.

The program serves approximately 8,000 people every year through events and its Every Day Connect program. 5 events are held annually; 3 see between 1,500 - 2,000 participants and recruit 700-800 volunteers. 2 of the 5 events are smaller and focused on special subsets of the homeless population such as families and the LGTBQ community.

Project Homeless Connect is breaking the myth that people do not seek assistance and services and would simply prefer to be on the street. The data proves that when people are approached in a respectful and kind manner, and with available resources, they are eager to accept help towards self-sufficiency. National outreach professionals agree that it takes multiple contacts to build trust towards accepting assistance.

PHC is now implemented in 32 cities across the United States. Puerto Rico, Canada and Australia have also adopted Project Homeless Connect as a model towards ending homelessness. Other cities look to Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco as a model for their own events, but PHC in San Francisco is not affiliated with any other cities or their PHC programs.