In accordance with Milwaukee Continuum of Care, MATC volunteers helped individuals in need for Project Homeless Connect on Thursday, November 18. The date is important because it coincides with National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. The location of this event was the Tommy Thompson Youth Center at State Fair Park, located in West Allis.

MATC represented the school very impressively with 69 out of the 183 volunteers that participated in this event.

One of the volunteers for this event was James Wick, a current MATC student. Upon speaking to him, he gained a lot from this experience. When asked, he said: “I gained a great amount of gratification. I was able to help someone in need. There’s dozens or more that weren’t there, but I wanted to do the best I could to help people in our community. The other thing I gained was, besides helping people in our community, I was able to see exactly what was going on in our community.”

Kari Lerch who works for Community Advocates, the lead agency for the Milwaukee Continuum of Care (as well as being the Coordinator for said agency), indicated that many of the homeless individuals were given a chance at a lot of the resources that in one place and time, they might not have been able to receive. She also helps to coordinate the coalition and all activities included.

With the help of Project Homeless Connect, volunteers were able to help with a 1 day-1 stop shop. Some of the resources that were offered to these individuals were Representatives from Social Security, haircuts for grooming, as well as clothing and hygiene banks. The individuals who came were paired with a volunteer who assisted them. The volunteers helped these individuals by making sure to stop at every location that they might be interested in and/or needed.

Community Advocates is the lead agency for the Milwaukee Continuum of Care. The main focus for this organization is to work around homeless issues. They also work with shelters, 2-1-1 @ Impact, as well as faith-based organizations such as the Repairers of the Breach.

They are a very well-defined body that deals with anything involved with homelessness as well as applying for Federal and State homeless service dollars.

All homeless individuals were invited to partake in a big meal, and were offered a shuttle bus to arrive and leave the facility.

Individuals who are interested in any other infor-mation may find so at: www.milwaukeecoc.org (the site for Milwaukee Continuum of Care.)