Victoria, BC (August 15, 2023) – A network of local social service agencies is pulling out all the stops as they prepare to host Project Reconnect 2023, a one-day event that provides local community members experiencing homelessness and poverty with access to free services, resources, and referrals.
Project Reconnect takes place on Tuesday, August 22, from 11:00 am – 2:30 pm, at Royal Athletic Park (RAP), 1014 Caledonia Ave.
The Downtown Service Providers (DSP) Committee, which organizes the annual event, envisions it as a one-day, one-stop annual service fair for community members.
“It’s also a day of shared conversation, learning, fellowship, delicious food, and entertainment,” says Andrew Holeton, Director of Collaborative Engagement & Impact at the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region, a member organization of the DSP Committee. “It’s an easy-going environment where service providers and those people with lived experience can share information and connect—or reconnect.”
More than 40 different service providers will be on hand, providing free services like medical care, ID replacement, haircuts, foot care, veterinary help, and more. In bringing together so many service providers in one space, organizers hope that attendees will have the opportunity to find out who can help, no matter the situation they’re in.
Organizers have ensured a bus will follow a route throughout Victoria, stopping at hubs to pick up attendees and transport them safely to RAP. Each of the estimated 200-300 people who attend Project Reconnect will enjoy a community lunch, prepared by The Mustard Seed Street Church, with other food giveaways throughout the day.
The first iteration of Project Connect (as the project was originally called) took place in Victoria in 2008, and was based on an initiative developed by United Way Worldwide.
Project Reconnect is supported by United Way Southern Vancouver Island (UWSVI) and the Victoria Labour Council.
More information about Project Reconnect, including links to opportunities to donate, set up a booth, or volunteer at the event, is available at victoriahomelessness.ca/take-action/project-reconnect-2023/.
Media are welcome to attend Project Reconnect.
About the DSP
The Downtown Service Providers Committee comprises service providers operating in Victoria’s downtown core, or serving populations in the downtown core, who have met monthly since 2002 to share information, coordinate activities, and develop collaborative strategies to address the needs in the downtown core. Membership includes representatives of service delivery organizations, city council, city staff, police, and local businesses, as well as funding, advocacy, and social policy agencies.
About United Way Southern Vancouver Island
For 85 years, United Way Southern Vancouver Island (UWSVI) has served the local community and remains dedicated to supporting people in areas where they need it most. We believe everyone in the Greater Victoria region, which includes 13 municipalities and 11 First Nations and the Southern Gulf Islands, should have the opportunity to reach their potential. Last year, UWSVI supported close to 63,000 individuals on Southern Vancouver Island in building better lives. That is almost one in six people in our region being helped by a United Way Southern Vancouver Island initiative or funded program.
MEDIA CONTACT
Erik Lambertson
Director, Marketing + Communications
United Way Southern Vancouver Island
Office: 250.984.2269 ext. 265
erik.lambertson@uwsvi.ca
