"It is easy to see the homeless man standing drunk in a corner of downtown asking for money and forget about the little girl who doesn't know where she will sleep on Christmas night."

As I spoke with a variety of peeps concerning our recent Project Homeless Connect event, perceptions of the event were radically divergent, depending on which side of the line you were standing on.

For volunteers and staffers, there was almost a unanimous belief that the event itself was "outstanding," "beyond my wildest imagination," "moving," "very powerful," and "great."  

Talk to some of the homeless who participated and a very different picture emerges; "long waits," "empty promises," "referrals instead of help," "runaround," and "where were the real homeless people?"

I don't mean to rain on the parade of all those who participated to make the event a reality; hell, I was one of them.  But I think before we all break our arms patting ourselves on the backs for a job well done, we'd better temper some of that pride with a dose of unpretentious reality, straight from the mouths of those it was designed to benefit.....

Volunteers find an understanding of homelessness

By Judy Tackett • December 7, 2008

Tennessee Voices

When you ask little kids at this time of the year if they're looking forward to Christmas, you probably will see their small faces light up as they nod and look directly at you with expecting eyes.

When you ask the same question of a little girl that is homeless, she's likely to attempt a smile and lower her head slightly to avoid eye contact. That's what happened to one of the volunteers at Tuesday's Project Homeless Connect, which was Nashville's first event of this magnitude.

"It broke my heart," the volunteer who told me about it said as he recalled the little girl's reaction. "She doesn't even know where she'll be on Christmas."

The little girl was one of more than 1,000 homeless individuals and families who showed up at the Municipal Auditorium Tuesday at Nashville's inaugural Project Homeless Connect, where they received services from 50 participating provider agencies, which all were available to them for one day under one roof.

Homelessness is an evocative term, with a lot of stigma attached to it. It is easy to see the homeless man standing drunk in a corner of downtown asking for money and forget about the little girl who doesn't know where she will sleep on Christmas night.

Project has stepped up recruitment

However, a recent research project by political science professor Tom Knecht and sociology professor Lisa Martinez, both from the University of Denver, showed that volunteering can change attitudes. The two researchers surveyed volunteers before and after their participation in Denver's Project Homeless Connect about their feelings and attitudes toward homeless people.

The results clearly showed that after Project Homeless Connect, volunteers were less likely to say that homelessness was a personal choice or the result of substance abuse or mental illness. Stereotypes had clearly eroded after volunteering for the homeless. Of course, there is a Catch-22 involved: People who subscribe to such stereotypes are less likely to volunteer.

But Project Homeless Connect is more than just a one-stop shop. The event, which is meanwhile regularly held by 200 cities in the United States, Canada and Australia, will change how business is done when it comes to helping the homeless. Other cities, such as San Francisco, which launched Project Homeless Connect under Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004, have been able to recruit hundreds of volunteers.

The results have been so phenomenal that cities nationwide now hold the event on an annual basis, many of them even twice a year. The Metro Homelessness Commission, which organized Nashville's Project Homeless Connect, intends to repeat the event in about six months. The need, as was shown on Tuesday where nearly 250 volunteers pitched in to assist 1,078 homeless individuals, is definitely here.

Project Homeless Connect has been shown to lower barriers and remove obstacles by bringing together agencies and community volunteers across the city. During one day, every service provider is focused on solving problems that so far have kept the poorest of the poor living in the streets.

This united focus provides more than services to the homeless. It offers hope, a commodity many of these poor people have lost along the way.

What is more, Project Homeless Connect gives people in the community a chance to make a difference — in one day.

Judy Tackett is a free-lance writer interested in homelessness and other social issues. E-mail: judy@tackettmedia.com.