SJ Connect is the online home of San Jose’s Project Homeless Connect and Project Youth Connect events.
These one day events provide people who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness with crucial services including medical and mental health assistance, housing information and referral, dental care, employment, California IDs, Veterans benefits, haircuts, food, and social services. While Project Homeless Connect includes all people who are homeless or at-risk, Project Youth Connect targets youth aged 15 to 24 in order to focus on the unique needs of this population.
The City of San Jose holds two Project Homeless Connect events each year with tremendous success. For results and achievements of our Project Homeless Connect events, please see our Accomplishments section.
On a national scale, Project Homeless Connect has met with incredible support and success. The event has its roots in San Francisco, where it began in October 2004 under Mayor Gavin Newsom. Since then communities across the nation have eagerly adopted Project Homeless Connect as their own. According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), over 130 cities in the United States have started hosting Connect events. In fact, USICH recognizes Project Homeless Connect as “an innovation that mobilizes civic will to end homelessness.”
In December 2005, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness initiated the first National Project Homeless Connect Day. In December 2006, National Project Homeless Connect Week began. On the week from December 4-8, 2006, 40 cities brought together over 9,500 volunteers to help almost 22,000 homeless people to services.
These services on this one day can, for many people, serve as the first step towards regaining self-sufficiency. For those who attend, it is also simply a much-needed good day.
Volunteers and donors play a key part in making this day a success. Project Homeless Connect volunteers help their homeless clients get the services they need and show them that there are people in the San Jose community who care. Donors provide critical assistance for our mission by providing both funding and goods such as winter coats, other clothing items, and toiletries.
Through volunteers, through donors, through service providers and neighbors, we can make a positive change in San Jose. We can show our homeless neighbors that we are here to help them. And we can do this through one good day.