For people wanting to do good during the holiday season, Action of Napa Valley has an opportunity for you.

As many as 500 volunteers will be needed for a day-long event to provide services to the homeless and near-homeless on Nov. 20, the week before Thanksgiving.

Organizers expect to provide health screenings, job counseling, haircuts and a raft of other services at Project Homeless Connect, sponsored by local social service agencies, health care providers and businesses.

Project Homeless Connect is part of a movement started five years ago in San Francisco that has spread to over 200 communities, Charlene Horton, executive director of the Napa Valley Shelter Project, said.

In the course of a year, Napa agencies sponsor health fairs and job fairs, but nothing that targets the homeless with the breadth of services planned for Nov. 20, Horton said.

“The goal is to not only reach the homeless we currently reach ... but Napa’s hidden homeless — families that are doubled- or tripled-up, families in garages,” Horton said. “We know they’re out there.”

“Project Homeless Connect is the type of event that puts Napans in touch with the needs of their community that might otherwise go unnoticed,” Sue Dee Shenk, a volunteer coordinator, said.

“In the last year, the rate at which residents have lost or are losing their homes due to hard economic times, job loss and foreclosures has increased rapidly,” Shenk said in a prepared statement.

“A simple service like a haircut or the opportunity to open a bank account could make all the difference in securing a job that helps keep someone in their home,” she said.

The bulk of the volunteers are needed to serve as guides, escorting each person from station to station. Some 100 volunteers, representing health care providers, job counselors and housing agencies are already lined up, Horton said.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Crosswalk Community Church on First Street in Napa. The church has donated the use of its campus for the day, Horton said.

Sponsors have donated some $7,000 in cash and services to cover expenses, Horton said.

Sponsors will provide child care and pet care. Community Action Napa Valley’s culinary training program will provide free lunches for service seekers and volunteers.

Anyone wanting to volunteer should contact Katie Meehan-Rubin of the Volunteer Center of Napa Valley at katier@volunteernapa.org or by calling 252-6222.