End of one-day event serving homeless and low-income residents creates opportunities for local, community-based events and services. After a successful eight-year run serving the needs of area low-income and homeless people, Project Connect has ended. Most recently, the one-day event served 1,748 guests at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in September 2014, with the help of over 750 volunteers and 100 medical, legal, nonprofit and other organizations.
“We deeply appreciate all that the leadership team and hundreds of volunteers contributed to this event over the years, including time, hard work, heart-felt devotion and a high level of respect for the guests,” said Betsy Warriner, executive director of Volunteer Connect, the local nonprofit that organized Project Connect for the past three years.
Warriner emphasized that the end of Project Connect does not reflect an end to the issues it helped address including local poverty and homelessness. The January 2014 “Point in Time” count found 2,410 self-identified homeless people in Central Oregon — a jump of 420 people from 2013. The study also found about twice as many chronically homeless individuals, with 522 in 2014, compared to just 256 in 2013.
“We decided that it will be more sustainable and helpful in the long run to support local, community-based efforts, which are more accessible to the people needing the services,” said Warriner. “Project Connect also requires a high level of funding, which has been increasingly difficult to raise.”
Community-specific services help fill gap
Volunteer Connect is now shifting its efforts to support several local, community-specific efforts that address poverty and homelessness, including services in Madras, Prineville and La Pine. Madras has a longstanding Community in the Park event that provides access to basic services, and La Pine is considering hosting a similar event. Volunteer Connect has a staff member based in Prineville who is exploring the possibility of an event in that community.
In addition, Volunteer Connect is providing funding to ICON City to help them provide dental and veterinary services. ICON City will partner with Medical Teams International for dental care and plans to reach out to community partners, like Bend Spay & Neuter Project, for veterinary services.
“We are proud of what Project Connect accomplished over the years, and we expect that transitioning community support to ongoing, community-based strategies will generate solid and long-term solutions to poverty,” said Warriner.
Volunteer Connect continues to organize local volunteer events such as the recent Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, which attracted 385 volunteers on Jan. 19. Warriner said such events will continue.
“Volunteer Connect will continue helping local nonprofits and other organizations through our volunteer events as well as our daily work to connect hundreds of volunteers across Central Oregon with service opportunities and local nonprofits,” she said.
Volunteer Connect links community members with rewarding volunteer opportunities to enhance Central Oregon. We partner with non-profit and public organizations to recruit and connect volunteers, matching volunteer interests and skills with community needs.
