On Wednesday, the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex transformed into a one-stop-shop allowing residents in-need to get a few helping hands.
Project Homeless Connect offered local resources that someone experiencing homelessness, or near-homelessness, might need. Dozens of volunteers spent all of the daylight hours guiding attendees of all ages to stations all across the complex, allowing each individual to get what most residents consider basic necessities: haircuts, massages, warm clothing, eyeglasses, mental care, and more. Vendors and volunteers collaborated to find short-and-long-term solutions for each individual.
Kathy Gensel, co-chair of Project Homeless Connect: “The vendors themselves can network with each other. So, one of them may be able to take care of ‘this’ problem, the other can take care of ‘this’ issue, but working together, they can take care of everything for somebody. For me, that’s one of the things I take out of this: the vendors get a chance to network, because we do have so many resources in this community that people should not ever find resources that can help them.”
Local collectives like Peninsula Community Health Services, the Kenai Peninsula Reentry Coalition, as well as volunteer-based Love In The Name of Christ (Love INC) and the LeeShore Center were all represented and offered services. Even volunteer-driven KPAL was there to offer food to the pets accompanying their owners, of which there were many. One notable contributor was Skyview Middle School, who not only offered dozens of student, staff, and parent volunteers, but also went the extra mile to offer towel sets.
Sheila-Margaret Pothast, a teacher at Skyview Middle School: “Our student council got in touch with Kathy Gensel and asked how we might be able to contribute to the event. They said they were in need of towel sets. So, we hosted a towel set donation drive at our school. Our goal was to get 50 towel sets, which would include a bath towel, hand towel, and washcloth. We actually were able to gather 76. So, we met and surpassed our goal which was awesome. We also got other loose towel donations as well.”
The event was not all about walking from station to station. The Kenai Peninsula Food Bank, with the help of local restaurants, also ensured that every individual had a hearty, hot meal, and food bags as attendees left ensured they were set up for dinner and beyond.