Project Connect event starts Wednesday at 10 a.m.

The eighth annual Project Connect — Health and Wellbeing — will be held Wednesday at local Medicine Hat locations — St. John’s Presbyterian Church the Salvation Army Family Resources Centre, a new location this year.

The event starts at 10 a.m. and will run until 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Those involved are a variety of community service providers, the Project Connect Community Network, volunteers and guests.

The project exposes guests to opportunities for essential services, such as free haircuts, help with ID and other services. It offers encouragement and supports to enhance their overall health and wellbeing, which organizers say leads to a more inclusive life.

Project Connect is an annual oneday event that targets individuals who are living on the economic edge, serving people who are homeless, at risk of being homeless, unemployed, living in poverty, disabled or those who are struggling to meet life’s basic needs for themselves or their families.

Organizers say the event aims to “break down barriers and connect people, face to face, to services that will serve them in the long term.”

Individuals who require the services are welcome to attend. If transportation is a barrier to attending, people are urged to pick up a free transit pass at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Salvation Army, the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society, or the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank Association.