Helping the homeless is probably the most common volunteer act there is. For most city dwellers, rarely a day goes by without a homeless person approaching and asking for spare change. For those who want to do more, there are plenty of soup kitchens and homeless shelters eager for a few hours of our time. Whenever we feel like we need to serve something bigger than ourselves, the homeless are there to cleanse our conscience.

But this eternal alms-giving will never make homelessness go away. That's why San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom started Project Homeless Connect in 2004. At this one-day, one-stop shop, the homeless can receive a full gamut of services, from haircuts and eyeglass fittings to admission to drug treatment programs and affordable housing programs. The goal: to coordinate all city services and end homelessness, sooner rather than later.

In 2005, the event went national. During National Project Homeless Connect Week last December, more than 9,500 volunteers served more than 15,000 homeless people in 40 cities — a 50 percent increase in folks serving and served over the year before. The week-long event is the culmination of day-long Project Connect events across the country and now in Canada and Australia too. Today, for example, there are Project Connect events going on in Pasadena, California, and in Maricopa County, Arizona. Tomorrow, Duluth, Minnesota, and Oakland County, Michigan, make their own connections. San Francisco now hosts a Homeless Connect every other month.

It's great to coordinate services and give the homeless a convenient place to find what they need. What's even more important about the Homeless Connect model is that the people who receive services provide data about themselves in exchange. This allows city governments to paint a much clearer picture of who is homeless and adapt services to meet their needs. The national Homeless Connect network also allows cities to share their experience of what works and what doesn't through regular conference calls, as well as through the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness website and newsletter.

The most recent item reports on a new innovation in Project Homeless Connect: events designed especially for families. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 600,000 families with 1.35 million children go homeless at some time each year — and these numbers are expected to rise as foreclosures increase because of the subprime lending crisis. The city of Portland, Oregon, this month offers its second event for families. The family events offer later hours to accommodate parents who are often among the working poor; the schedule is also pegged to the school year to make it easier to identify families. Rather than simply recruiting on the street, as is done for single people, information about family events is left on door hangers at motels, where families frequently find temporary shelter. Similar innovations are devised for the many different walks of life who find themselves without permanent shelter.

So go ahead and give the guy on the street corner some spare change if that makes you feel good. And then check out this year's Project Homeless Connect calendar and make yourself part of a more permanent solution.