Local organizations and individuals who work with Waco’s homeless population banded together Tuesday to provide everything from healthcare to haircuts at Project Homeless Connect.
Volunteers provided immediate help including food and clothing, alongside information about where to get health care, counseling and other assistance. Tuesday’s event at First Baptist Church of Waco is one of two Project Homeless Connect events each year, one each winter and one each summer, that bring together as many resources as possible to meet whatever needs someone living on the street may have, Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition Director Shaun Lee said.
The event is also a chance to finish the point-in-time count, a count carried out by local organizations nationwide to document how many homeless people live in a given city.
“There’s a lot of people we will not be able to find during our point-in-time count,” Lee said. “Maybe they’re staying in an encampment we don’t know about, but this gives them the opportunity to come by, get some resources, get connected with people and also get counted.”
Over the years, the list of services has expanded, Lee said. Last year, the coalition added bicycle repairs to the list of services, which has proven very popular.
“Many of our people obviously don’t have access to transportation, so a bike might be their only mode of transportation,” Lee said. “So if they can’t afford to have it repaired this is a great time for them to come in.”
One man who declined to identify himself said he came to the event mainly for food and clothing after rain ruined his belongings.
“All my stuff has been destroyed,” he said. “I can say this. I’ve been in Waco since 2014, and I can tell you that it’s hard.”
Michael Garrett said he came to the event for new warm clothing, identification and information about getting into housing after being incarcerated. He said he happened to hear about the event early Tuesday morning and made a beeline for it.
“I don’t have anything,” Garrett said. “I’m starting fresh out again. I’ve been back here for about three weeks.”
Garrett, who has been contending with the cold weather since he came back to Waco, said the lack of shelter for homeless people during the day has taken a toll on him.
“If you’ve got a shelter to go to at night that’s cool, but they have a certain procedure they have to follow,” Garrett said. “If you’re not working and you don’t have somewhere to go during the day, it’s hard. I wish that they had a shelter you could go to. I think it would keep people off the street.”
Local musician Stephany A-Chavira performed for people eating lunch in one room, while a caricature artist made drawings for anyone who wanted one.
As much as the event is focused on practical assistance and helping people escape homelessness, it is also about basic human connection, said Michael Ormsby, a clinical social worker with the Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System.
“A lot of the folks that we serve feel a little disconnected from the community as a whole, just because of their situations,” Ormsby said. “This is a great way to connect with people in a caring environment, and it’s also empowering them to move out of their situation and move forward.”
Elysa Atmosfera, a volunteer coordinator at the Family Abuse Center, passed out travel size toiletries and information about free counseling, legal advocacy, case management and other services.
“We get a lot of donations of travel size soaps, shampoos and lotions,” Atmosfera said. “Doing events like this gets our stuff out there, and not a lot of people know that all the services we offer are free.”
She said travel size lotion was in particularly high demand.
Planned Parenthood was onsite offering menstrual products, condoms and care packages of practical items including socks, snacks and disposable wipes along with information about health screenings and STD testing.
Animal Birth Control Clinic has been providing veterinary care through the event since it began.
It provides flea and tick medication and pet food, spokesperson Nellie Fitzjarrell said. She said for someone who is homeless, pets can be a lifeline.
“It gives them something to get up for, something to work for,” Fitzjarrell said. “Sometimes, these guys will feed their animals before they feed themselves, so we do encourage them to take care of themselves so they can take care of their animals.”
Owners can bring their pets in for vaccines, spaying and neutering, and other services, and the vet staff will transport the animals to and from the event. For procedures that require animals to stay overnight, the clinic will transport pets back to their owners the next day.
“As it’s grown, we’ve grown,” Fitzjarrell said. “Today, we’ve transported seven animals for services.”
Brandi Fagner, who serves as assistant nurse manager at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical specialty clinics in Temple, has been coordinating medical care at the event for the past six years.
“When I first started we did have HIV testing and dental,” Fagner said. “We did have providers, such as Baylor Scott & White, the Family Health Center, and the VA, providing blood pressure and glucose screens.”
Two years ago, the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District joined the effort to provide vaccinations, and Mission Waco came in to provide vision screenings, she said. Anyone who needs glasses receives a voucher after their screening.
Fagner said the coalition is interested in finding someone to provide hearing screenings, but no one has come forward to do so yet, and the crowding at the church during the event would make securing a quiet room difficult.
“That is something we could add to the next event,” she said.
— WACOTRIB