It’s that time of year – the whole world is green and flowers are sprouting up all around town. I look out my window at Family Promise and see a garden of red tulips. Every spring it hits me: that need to dig my hands in the dirt and plant something. Planting seeds and watching them grow is about as good as it gets.

Surprisingly for us, it’s been a quiet few weeks at Family Promise of Gallatin Valley. After 14 months of continuous families in our program, our last 3 families all left within a week of each other and no one else came immediately knocking on our door. The brief reprieve from daily crises has given us the opportunity to do planning and collaborative work with other agencies and individuals concerned with homelessness in the Gallatin Valley.

The best example of this is the new Continuum of Care that has been meeting monthly. At our strategic planning session on May 8th we developed our working  mission statement: “To work towards ending homelessness in Gallatin and Park Counties through community awareness, effective leadership and cooperation.” Led by two amazing VISTA volunteers, Kathryn Bartholomew from Community Health Partners, and Brigitte Menard of Family Promise, we have been able to move beyond competition and truly work together toward a common goal: ending homelessness.

Best of all, we decided that now is the time for action. All of the participants are seasoned workers who have already devoted too many hours to meetings and great ideas that never get off the ground. The time to look at the dirt and dream is over – it’s time to dig in and actually plant something. Project Homeless Connect does just that! Based on a national program with a proven track record, this program starts with a one day “one stop shop” for homeless persons or persons on the verge of homelessness. Instead of people having to navigate the maze of support systems around town, all services are brought to one place and offered in a fair type setting. Everything from food stamp applications, health care, information on jobs and career services, child care assistance, free clothing vouchers, housing help, dental care to free haircuts is offered in a friendly, consumer-oriented setting.

The First Presbyterian Church has graciously offered their facility on July 12th for Bozeman’s first ever Project Homeless Connect. There will be a free barbecue and  entertainment at Canterbury Park. Do you have a skill to contribute? Can you patch jeans or cook hot dogs, sing or paint children’s faces? Just imagine: if we can all come together for one day to end homelessness, whose to say we can’t come together all the time?

Plant. See what happens! Maybe we can all grow in the process.

— Gloria Edwards

“Plant so that your own heart will grow”