Pooling resources from more than 20 organizations and services, Project Homeless Connect helped bring valuable resources to Meridian’s homeless people on Friday.

Project Homeless Connect is a resource fair consisting of charitable organizations that provide different services for the homeless people in Meridian.

The fair at the Multi-County Community Service Agency offered medical exams, food, employment assistance, housing, hygiene kits, educational opportunities and more for those in need. 

The ability to have so many resources in one place is crucial to delivering services to people who need them most, according to Hannah Maharrey, Continuum of Care director.

“In Mississippi, we’re blessed to have a lot of nonprofits that literally started as ‘mom and pops’… My job is to connect all those agencies together if they share a common mission,” Maharrey said. “If your goal is to get somebody in housing and my goal is to get somebody employment, we should be working together, because we know a lot of times to keep long-term housing you’re going to need income.”

The fair received about 20 visitors in its first two hours, Maharrey said.

In its last point in time county, Meridian had 78 people who identified as homeless, of which, 18 were unsheltered (living in conditions unfit for humans), 22 were with the Salvation Army shelter, 14 were in the Frances David Memorial shelter, and 24 were at Care Lodge, Maharrey said.

Vendors at the fair said that they appreciate the event, not only for what it does for those in need, but for what it can provide for organizations.

“A lot of people don’t know about the resources available to them in the county. Even I am learning about agencies right here that I didn’t know about before,” Samantha White with Care Lodge said.

“It’s good for us as agencies to be able to touch base with other agencies and coordinate our efforts,” David Schultz with Wesley House said.

The fair, overall, is about pooling together resources in the best possible way, Maharrey said.

“We also come from a poor state, we’re honest about that. We don’t get a ton of federal funding, we get some, but we don’t get tons, and we know that we’re never going to receive enough federal funding to adequately cover every need that we have, so we have to leverage our personal and community based relationships to share the funding that we do have effectively and efficiently and to make sure we have a shared goal,” Maharrey said.

If you expect a homeless person to go to all 20 of these agencies, they won’t do it,” Maharrey said.

The amount of dedication to helping those in need is a testament to the city and surrounding area, according to Maharrey.

“The fact that we’ve got 21 agencies in this room right now and they’re having conversations and they’re connecting our homeless population with resources is wonderful. You don’t see that in other areas of the state, because they don’t have the resources available or the resources they do have don’t communicate.”