MOSES LAKE — Walking through the doors at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church’s Fatima Center Thursday afternoon, all you could hear was chatter. The type of good, genuine conversation that occurs when people share a good meal with people they feel comfortable with in a space they feel at ease in. That ease and comfort is what Project Homeless Connect was all about; connecting those in need with services that can help them improve their lives.

The outreach was held in conjunction with Our Lady of Fatima’s regularly scheduled weekly outreach, which offers free meals, hot showers and clothes every Thursday afternoon to everyone who walks into the cafeteria.

Homeless Connect goes a step further and connects attendees with local services and agencies. From the Housing Authority of Grant County, to Serve Moses Lake, New Hope Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services and the Department of Social and Health Services, attendees connected with representatives from the various agencies and learned about the services they provide.

“We just want to come together as a community and do an outreach for the poor and the people in need across Grant County,” shelter-advocate Nicole Cedillo said.

In addition to Project Homeless Connect, Grant County’s annual survey of the local homeless population, dubbed the Point in Time Homeless Count, kicked off on Thursday. Volunteers panned out and did a field count and survey around Grant County to gather data and hand out important supplies.

“Every year we have groups of people going out to different areas of Grant County. So it can be like Mattawa, Royal City, Ephrata, Soap Lake, Grand Coulee, and Moses Lake, and they are out there doing a count and seeing how many people are homeless,” Cedillo explained. “They take food, clothing for them, whatever is donated, they go out and offer them the same services that we have here at Project Homeless Connect."

Cedillo said homelessness is a bigger problem in Grant County than most people realize. When the volunteers came back after last year’s count and the numbers were tallied, they found that 135 people were homeless throughout the county.

“Homelessness in Grant County is growing year by year,” Cedillo stated. “It’s a big problem and not a lot of people want to talk about it, but it’s a problem that is happening. And as (places like) Moses Lake are growing, it’s happening more and more.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.