Courtesy Photo Boxes of food are lined up at a prior food distribution by the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. Free community resources will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday during the Alpena Project Connect event hosted by the Alpena Human Services Coordinating Council.

ALPENA — Free community resources will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday during the Alpena Project Connect event hosted by the Alpena Human Services Coordinating Council. The free event at the Alpena High School Commons will feature booths from more than 30 human service organizations and service clubs.

The public is encouraged to attend and receive resources for health and wellness, education, housing, and more.

Tours of Alpena High Health Center will be offered, and a food distribution will also be available to attendees. (Registration is required inside the event prior to picking up food.)

The Alpena HSCC group notes that we are stronger as a community when we come together to support our friends and neighbors. This Project Connect event is for anyone who can benefit from a little extra help or who would like to learn more about the resources available in the Alpena community.

“We are happy to be able to bring this event to the community on a Saturday for the first time ever,” said Alpena HSCC Chair Courtney Holmes. “We expect this will allow more people to be able to attend. Alpena HSCC is also grateful for our event sponsors Alcona Health Center, the Exchange Club of Alpena, and the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, and for the help of Alpena Public Schools in making this event possible.”

Holmes is also the regional outreach manager with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

“This is a tough time for everyone, with everything costing more, and life being different than it was, pre-pandemic,” Holmes said. “This is a great way to come out and just check out the options that are out there in our community. Not only will there be giveaways, we do have our food distribution, we also have all kinds of giveaway items such as hygiene products, household items, we’re also going to be offering services like car seat checks and free haircuts, depending on time.”

She noted the event will be a great opportunity for anyone in the community to receive resources and information about community services, without having to provide any income information.

“It’s free to everyone,” she said. “There are no qualifiers, per se. You don’t need to prove income or anything like that. You do need to be there in person, really, to receive a lot of these services. With food distribution, it’s nice to be able to have someone come and pick up your food items for you, and that still will be possible, if you want to send a proxy to grab the food items, we can still, absolutely, do that, but without being there in person, you’ll miss out on all the extra resources and the other giveaways, so we are encouraging individuals to try and stop by in person, if they are able.”

She explained there will be so much information in one place.

“This is just a great place to take care of a lot of things at once,” Holmes said. “Whether you want to receive some type of service that’s being offered, or get info on resources in our community, you can get it all in one place.”

The event has been offered in prior years, but this year’s event is the biggest ever, Holmes said.

“We’ve done it differently, depending on the year,” Holmes said. “Then, because of the pandemic, we went primarily to a drive-through style, which didn’t get as much engagement, so we are thrilled this year to be back to an in-person type of event where there will be face-to-face connections, and you’re able to stop and actually have a conversation with someone if you need more information, so that’s very helpful.”

Holmes added that Malinda Amlotte with Alcona Health Center, Nichole Keyes with Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Authority, and Carrie Badgero with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are members of the HSCC Executive Committee who helped coordinate the event.

“We have a great group, it’s a small group, but a mighty group, of individuals who have helped put this together,” Holmes said. “We’re also really grateful for our sponsors.”

Event sponsors are Alcona Health Center, the Exchange Club of Alpena, and the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

“The folks at Alpena High School and Alpena Public Schools have been absolutely more than accommodating to help us put this on,” Holmes said. “So, really, a big thank you to all the hands that helped make this possible.”

Participating organizations include: Alcona Health Center, the Alpena Community College Nursing Program, Bay View Center, the Center of Charity, the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Team (Baby Pantry), the Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeast Michigan, Child and Family Services of Northeast Michigan, Compass North, Disability Network of Northern Michigan, District Health Department No. 4, the Exchange Club of Alpena, the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan, Light of Hope Clubhouse, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency Early Head Start/Head Start, NEMCSA (various programs), Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Authority, READ Program through the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, the Salvation Army of Alpena, Sunrise Centre, USDA Rural Development, Veterans Health Administration, and more.

To see a full list of participating service organizations and other information about the event, visit http://bit.ly/PCAlpena24.