Project Reconnect 2022: A Homelessness Services Fair in Victoria

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.