By Katie Knapp
Omaha, NE – Omaha's first-ever Project Homeless Connect brought 57 service providers to one location to help the homeless. The event was held Friday at Creighton University's Kiewit Fitness Center.
Project Homeless Connect gives Omaha's homeless men and women an opportunity to get all the services the need. The project provided a warm meal, haircuts, health screenings, and counseling. The homeless could get information on education, health care, employment, housing, and legal services. Veterans also had the opportunity to find out what services are available to them. 600 volunteers helped 500 homeless men and women secure services.
Mike Saklar, Director of Omaha's Siena-Francis House, says events such as Project Homeless Connect are critical. He says it would take forever for the homeless to get all the services that the Project provides in one spot. Saklar wants to create a social services campus similar to what Project Homeless Connect offers.
Saklar says about 375 people visit the Siena-Francis House every day. But he says that doesn't tell the entire story. In January, more than two thousand different individuals stayed at the shelter.
Project Homeless Connect began in 2004 in San Francisco.