By: Danni Eickenhorst, Midland Division
A client waits to be served at The Salvation Army as part of Project Homeless Connect.
The Alton Salvation Army hosted their third annual Madison County Project Homeless Connect event on Wednesday, serving more than 100 area homeless individuals. Agencies that participate in the Madison County Continuum of Care gathered in The Salvation Army’s gym and chapel to provide food, clothing, SSI advocacy, childcare, legal services, healthcare, haircuts, clothing and more to the over 100 homeless people that attended.
“National Project Homeless Connect is a nationwide initiative that works to engage the homeless population, and to connect them with resources they need so that they can get themselves out of the cycle of homelessness,” said DeWayne Sanders of Chestnut Health Systems, a co-facilitator of the Madison County Continuum of Care, “We work to empower, engage and connect these individuals so that we hopefully don’t have to see them here again next year.”
DeWayne Sanders of Chestnut Health Systems at Project Homeless Connect.
The Salvation Army’s Alton worship and community center serves as a hub of local activity, serving a large population of individuals in need in the hard-hit Alton area. The center provides food pantry aid, utility assistance, youth and senior citizen programs and more. The Alton Salvation Army also has an on-site homeless shelter.
“The Salvation Army is amazing. It’s an honor that they let us come and take over their facility for the day and turn it upside down. We’re so glad to work with them to do so much good. What they do for this community is incredible,” remarked Sanders.
The event, which also served as the annual homeless population census as part of the HUD-required Point-in-Time homeless count, allows the government and supportive agencies to gauge the current state of homelessness in the Madison County region.
Volunteers and cooperating agencies help clients connect with necessary resources.
Beth Parenti of the Madison County Mental Health Board volunteered for the event, triaging homeless individuals as they came in to assess what services they needed, and pairing them with a volunteer escort to help them through the process. “With the unfortunate state of the economy,” she said, “the homeless population in Madison County continues to grow. We are here today to lend a hand in any way we can.”
“This program is incredibly important,” stated Leslie Marna, the Regional Shelter Administrator for The Salvation Army, “We are often a central part of any community, working at the core of their homeless issues, and that is certainly the case in Madison County. It’s an honor to host this event, and we are so glad that we can deliver so much good in the space of one day by partnering with our co-agencies through the Continuum of Care.”
