Annual Homeless Connect puts ‘helping hands’ under one roof

WASILLA — The Curtis Menard Sports Center looked more like the Alaska State Fairgrounds in early September than a place to play soccer or toss a football Tuesday. The day marked the annual Mat-Su Valley Homeless Connect. The event is aimed at providing people experiencing homelessness with a myriad of services and existing opportunities in the Mat-Su.

Some 150 volunteers and more than 50 businesses and vendors were busy days before the event setting up tables, and preparing some 300 “goody bags.” That was the magic number organizers were expecting to reach this year. Once the doors opened at 10 a.m., those wanting to stop in had the opportunity to take advantage of everything from haircuts, legal services, housing assistance and temporary child placement during crisis situations. Even hot meals were served. And everything was available at no charge. Even getting to and from the event from anywhere in the Valley was taken care of at no charge. All one had to do is show up and walk inside.

“It’s a really nice thing that these folks do,” said Charlie Ashenberger. Ashenberger, who for the past several years has been living with various relatives throughout Southcentral Alaska, said he arrived in Alaska just over a year ago after the small parts shop he worked at in northern Wisconsin closed.

“I heard about it and decided to come check it out. I can’t get over how many people want to help out. It just goes to show you that despite how bad you hear things are, there’s still a lot of good around,” he said.

Ashenberger said the atmosphere throughout the center didn’t have the feel normally associated with assistance programs.

“Look around,” he added. “Most everyone here is smiling and helpful.”

Tables were full of handouts, snacks, treats and most importantly, caring and understanding faces. Dawn Paulson of Beacon Hill’s Safe Family for Children said of course the main focus is spreading the word about all the available services to those who can most benefit. She added there was also an extra benefit.

“We’ve had a lot of people coming up and saying ‘I wish I would have known about this’,” Paulson said about her program. “And there’s a lot of great networking going on here.”

One table that saw lots of stops centered on services available for Valley veterans. Alissa Zank, involved with veteran housing assistance programs, said a hot topic this year has been assistance with utilities. She said the colder than normal winter to date has been troublesome for some veterans. Randy Reamer of the Wasilla Veterans Center said many people stopping by were surprised with what the center covered.

“Everybody knows about the GI Bill,” Reamer said. “A lot of people were surprised about what services are offered.”

Janet Weiss of the Mat-Su Reentry Coalition offered similar sentiments. Her group works with helping jailed individuals transition back into regular community settings, bridging the gap between the community and the state Department of Corrections.

“Last year, it seems like more people (making the transition) were here,” Weiss said. “This year, I think we had more people who said they know of someone who can use this service.”