Project Homeless Connect draws large crowd

Scores of people visited an event Thursday in Columbia meant to connect homeless people with services.

Project Homeless Connect also allows the city to count its homeless population as part of the annual statewide count Point in Time Count.

Thursday’s bi-annual event drew 163 people to the Family Impact Center.

Event Chair Mark Kirchhoff said the goal is to give people all types of resources at one central location.

“The idea is to bring all the services here under one roof at one point in time,” Kirchhoff said.

The program provides legal assistance, child care assistance, haircuts, medical checkups, mental health screenings, substance abuse screening, Medicaid and Social Security applications, HIV/AIDS testing, veterinary assistance for pets and more, according to a press release.

A local chef, Jheron Nunnelly, donated 250 hot meals.

“It’s really cool to be a part of something so big and giving back is awesome also,” he said. “There’s a lot of people smiling right now and that’s what I really enjoy about it.”

Organizations including Voluntary Action Center, United Way, Salvation Army and Family Access Center of Excellence attended the event.

Nearly 230 individuals and families attended the most recent event in July.