San Francisco Chronicle - October 29, 2009
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer

Their goal was to convince those living on the streets to walk into the lobbies of a handful of nearby residential hotels where social workers were waiting to help them sign up for welfare checks, detox programs or housing.

Five years later, the beginnings of Project Homeless Connect look almost quaint. The undertaking - now replicated in 221 cities around the country and in Australia and Canada - is now held every other month in Bill Graham Civic Auditorium with hundreds of volunteers providing an array of services to thousands of homeless people.

On Wednesday morning, the project's fifth anniversary, homeless people waited in a line that snaked down Grove Street for their chance to sign up for housing, medical and legal services as well as have their wheelchairs fixed, their hair cut, their shoulders massaged, their HIV status tested and their eyes examined.

They could sit for a portrait session with a photographer, use construction paper and markers to craft a card to send to relatives, get their California identification card and talk to counselors.

"Open up! Open up! Open up!" many eager people in line chanted at one point. Alonzo Saunders, 58, said he'd gotten a pair of shoes at a recent event. But this time, he wanted help with something bigger: housing.

"It's the best project for the city to do," said Saunders, whose been homeless for four years. "A lot of people don't have housing, they're trying to get medical care, they're trying to get food - all of that."

Upstairs on a balcony overlooking the auditorium, several city officials held a rally to thank hundreds of volunteers who'd offered to help and to direct them where to go and what to do.

"When we first started five years ago, a lot of people thought we wouldn't do it twice," said Alex Tourk, who helped create the program when he worked as the mayor's deputy chief of staff. "People thought it was a big P.R. stunt. ... I think actions have spoken louder than words."

Newsom also addressed the crowd of volunteers before the day began, though he was 40 minutes late due, he said, to meetings about the Bay Bridge closure.

He said that most people turn the other way as they pass the homeless, but that the Project Homeless Connect volunteers have shown the importance of face-to-face connections.

"Thank you for giving people that sense of dignity," he said.

Newsom was so rushed, he forgot to announce the milestone his press aides had said was coming: that his administration has moved 10,000 people off the streets of San Francisco since 2004. While many of his homeless programs - including Care Not Cash, which slashes people's welfare checks in exchange for housing - have been controversial, Project Homeless Connect has been fairly widely praised.

Lauren Freitas may be one of its biggest fans. She moved into city housing two weeks ago after being homeless for three years and struggling with a methamphetamines addiction. She accessed services at Project Homeless Connect a few times, including getting HIV testing, antibiotics and information about how to recover from domestic violence. She said she was most grateful for the veterinary services for her dog, Oliver.

"That was a godsend," said Freitas, who now plans to volunteer herself.

Henry Belton, 63, has made a similar turnaround. He was homeless for 14 years and addicted to crack and alcohol when he first walked through the doors of the auditorium seeking help. Now, he has an apartment and has been clean and sober for four years - and he's become a Project Homeless Connect volunteer.

"I've been able to get myself together and keep myself together thanks to this program," he said. "I haven't looked back since."

Project Homeless Connect

5 years

20,000 volunteers

29,000 homeless people through the doors

5,354 have received medical care

3,476 have received legal help

7,067 pairs of eyeglasses given out

2,976 have received housing

250 corporations have participated

300 nonprofits have participated

Source: Judith Klain, director of Project Homeless Connect

E-mail Heather Knight at hknight@sfchronicle.com.

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