Project Homeless Connect returns to the Kenai Peninsula on Tuesday for its 12th year, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Leslie Rohr, executive director of Love INC, called the event a “one-day, one-stop shop” with a variety of services available for free to benefit individuals experiencing housing insecurity.
“Probably the most popular stop along the way are haircuts,” she said Tuesday. “Barbers and hair stylists from around the peninsula have volunteered their time to come in that day and do free haircuts.”
A long list of services will be provided, including vision screenings, job services, rental assistance applications, social services, health care, food, veterans services, immunizations, child care and plenty more.
These services are provided by a list of partners including the Alaska Human Rights Commission, the Municipal League, the Kenai Lions Club, Cook Inlet Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Frontier Community Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, Kenai Peninsula Animal Lovers, Alaska Housing, Kenaitze Indian Tribe, the Veterans Administration, Independent Living Center, the Job Center, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank and more.
A full list of vendors provided by Rohr lists 37 services available to attendees.
“We have a wide variety,” Rohr said.
Free transportation to the event will also be provided, with pickups at the Kenai Job Center and Soldotna Public Library. First pickups are at 8:45 a.m., running until 2:45 p.m. Assistance is also available for people who live farther away, by calling 907-420-4514.
“What we hope to do is to reach as many of those people who are either unsheltered or living in substandard housing so that we can get them into the pipeline for services and get them into safe sustainable housing,” Rohr said. “We continue to do this because we continue to contact new people.”
Rohr said that last year, the 11th annual, 43% of attendees were new to the event.
On Tuesday, Rohr said that all of their calls for volunteers and donations had been answered, but that planning begins in August for 2024’s event, if people are interested in getting involved.
Similar Project Homeless Connect events will be held in Homer and Seward next week. Homer’s, called Community Resource Connect, will also be held on Tuesday, at both the South Peninsula Recreation Center and the Anchor Point Food Pantry. Seward’s, Seward Cares: A Project Homeless Connect Event, will be held Wednesday in the AVTEC Gym. For more information about any of these events, including Soldotna’s, visit kenaipeninsulahomeless.org.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Services provided at Project Homeless Connect 2023 in Soldotna
Haircuts by SinShearly
Pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection resources by ABC Life Choices
Healthcare by Ladies First and South Central Alliance For Resilient Families
Aging and disability resources by Independent Living Center
Change 4 the Kenai
Employment services by Peninsula Job Center
Food and United States Department of Agriculture programs by Kenai Peninsula Food Bank
Legal services by 49th State Law
Domestic violence shelter by Lee Shore Center
Health information by Peninsula Community Health Services
Vocational rehabilitation by Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Civil rights by Alaska State Commission for Human Rights
Shelter info by Nikiski Shelter of Hope
LifeLine phones by GCI
Vision screening by Kenai Lion’s Club
Food stamps by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Hand massages by Smalley Massage
Alcohol and drug treatment by Cook Inlet Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Veterans Services by Kenai Veterans Service and the Veterans Administration
Social services and tobacco quit kits by Kenaitze Indian Tribe
Student resources by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Students in Transition
Case management information by Kenai Peninsula Reentry Coalition
Recovery and sober living information by Freedom House
Resource center by Love INC
Voucher program by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Low income support programs by Alaska Division of Public Assistance
Pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease testing and referral by Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic
Municipal League
License, identification and vehicle registration by Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles
Dog food and rescue info by Kenai Peninsula Animal Lovers
Public transportation by Central Area Rural Transit System
Job service by Frontier Community Services
