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December 7, 2006 San Francisco, CA USA Over 65 Salesforce volunteers participated in the 14th Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco. Salesforce has always sent volunteers to this event but December yielded an exceptional number-one so large the Mayor took notice in his kick-off address. Prior to the event, a sock-drive was held and many people brought in thick, new socks to help those on the streets keep warm during the cold winter months. In addition to the huge turnout of Salesforce volunteers, there was also a huge turnout of kindness. While standing near one of the client entry points, a man walked in with not a shred of anything on his feet. Immediately upon seeing this, one of our volunteers took off her boots and gave the man her socks. Two of our employees shared their professional expertise to assist with legal intake and pre-qualifying homeless for California IDs. One employee who volunteered in the past, recruited his father, a dentist, to offer his services in the dental screening area. While another employee listened to a woman tell how she lost custody of her son and helped escort her to professionals who could advise her on how to start the process of getting him back. These are just a few examples of the stories that brought 1,993 homeless and low income individuals to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium that day.  Of the numerous volunteers that headed to help, many departments saw this as an excellent team building activity. Glenn Oclassen, Director of Education Partner Programs and a new Salesforce employee, was also a first time volunteer for Project Homeless Connect: "Living here in the Bay Area, I had always hoped to have time to work on such great efforts as Project Homeless Connect. By dumb (great) luck, I was scheduled to work with Project Homeless Connect as part of Global Education Services management team meeting-literally the third day in my new role here. We were able to work the afternoon volunteer shift, and I felt like we were able to help right when the volume of volunteers was at the lowest and the volume of those in need appeared to be at its greatest at the event. Our team waded right in-bagging food and interviewing those in need to help them get services. I was passing out oranges and helping people get their food bags together (and I kept sneaking extra oranges to the kids...), and this interaction location allowed me the opportunity to speak with literally hundreds of people in need. What struck me most was that these needy folks seem to gain the most from just being treated with dignity and respect and just looking them in the eye appeared to have an uplifting effect. I also have to admit that I recognized some of the homeless from my many years at working in start-ups in the SOMA neighborhood-that made me realize that some of these unfortunate people have been on the street for at least eight years. And then there were the kids... I saw my own children when I looked at these innocents and it shook me the core. It allowed me to understand how lucky I was to be able to provide for my kids, and how hard my own mother worked to raise two young boys as a single mom. Yet also felt good that I was, in some small way, making a difference in the lives of these children. I'm thankful to Salesforce for giving such an amazing opportunity to reach beyond. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to both participate in building a great company and building a better community. No matter how well we all do, it still all comes down to the simple fact that each of us get what we give."  The next Project Homeless Connect is February 28th in downtown San Francisco. Shifts are available in the morning, afternoon or all day. Consider donating your time towards helping to end homelessness and joining other volunteers in working together to make a real difference in our community.
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