By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – About 700 metro area homeless received services Friday at the third annual Project Homeless Connect.
The event started as a way to bring together all the services Omaha's homeless need in one location. Medical, legal, housing, and other services are available. Each person is matched with a volunteer who helps them find the services they need.
Ed Shada organizes Project Homeless Connect. He says the program is showing signs of success. Ten percent of the homeless who come to the event end up in housing by the end of the first month, according to Shada. Also, about 80 percent of the people who go through the medical area follow up afterwards.
The first year, 325 homeless Omahans received services at Project Homeless Connect. That number grew to 500 last year.
Creighton University hosts the event.