Project Reconnect 2022: A Homelessness Services Fair in Victoria
I’m continually ranting about how society and the government are picking on marginalised people; today I’m writing about the people who mean to help instead.
I’ve just attended an annual fair that was suspended during the pandemic, and brought back under the name Project Reconnect. In their own words:
A one-day, one-stop annual service fair that provides community members experiencing homelessness and poverty with access to free services, resources, and referrals.
Project Reconnect 2022
About three dozen organisations set up a stand advertising various services, like shelters, harm reduction services, government services, access to housing and employment, an ID clinic, even hepatitis C testing (I got tested; it was negative). The breadth of it was impressive; I spent years volunteering for Our Place Society and yet I knew of only roughly half of them, so it was a good opportunity to keep up. Among the participants:
- Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society (ACEHS): The name says it all.
- Anawim House: A modest community centre providing meals, showers, and laundry.
- Central Access and Rapid Engagement Services (CARES) Victoria: Operated by Island Health. Deals with mental health and substance use issues.
- Co/Lab: Stands for “Collaborative Community Laboratory on Substance Use and Harm Reduction”. It’s a safer drug supply advocacy and monitoring network.
- Community Social Planning Council: Runs various services such as a rent bank and an ID clinic.
- Connections Place Clubhouse: A community centre catering to people recovering from mental illness.
- Greater Victoria coalition to end homelessness: Provides access to basic services pertaining to shelters, housing, and employment.
- HerWay Home: “Support for pregnant and parenting women affected by substance use.” Operated by Island Health.
- Integrated Mobile Crisis Response Team (IMCRT): Operated by Island Health. Delivers crisis mental health response throughout Vancouver island.
- Mental Health Recovery Partners (MHRP): Provides mental health counselling.
- Mustard Seed: Distributes basic necessities to poor people, while dispensing spiritual support.
- Our Place Society: Too many services to list. It should be any needy person’s first stop in Victoria.
- Out of the Rain Youth Shelter: For homeless youth between 15 and 25.
- PEERS: “An organization of sex workers for sex workers.”
- Resources, Education, Employment, Support (REES): Operated by the Cool Aid Society. Runs various programs to help people overcome social isolation, from counselling to employment services.
- Saint Vincent de Paul: A charity reaching out to needy people in general.
- Salvation Army: Another charity reaching out to needy people in general.
- Solid Outreach: A harm reduction program operating a cannabis dispensary.
- Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS): A homelessness and disability advocacy organisation dispensing various legal services and helping the poor navigate the system.
- Toward the Heart: Provides harm reduction services.
- Umbrella Society: Deals with mental health, addiction, housing, and more.
- Victoria Native Friendship Centre: Caters primarily to the indigenous population and vulnerable people.
And I’m leaving some out; even our local MLA had a stand. The homeless may feel underwhelmed by society’s response to their plight and overwhelmed by the difficulties in navigating the system, but there’s actually a lot of help available to those who know where to find it. I just wish the fair lasted all year round.
