Stephanie Garcia made a face as Windy Gammon dragged a comb through her unruly brown locks.

Garcia couldn't remember the last time she had a hair cut, and there were some stubborn knots to contend with. But thanks to Gammon's skill with the scissors, she emerged from the chair with a fresh new look - and it didn't cost her a dime.

Free haircuts were among the prime attractions Friday at the First Christian Church in downtown Corvallis, where Project Homeless Connect offered a host of free services to area homeless people and others in need.

Garcia and her fiance, Joseph Thompson, both 26, tried their luck in Las Vegas, where they lived for about 10 months. But things didn't work out there, so they came back to Oregon for a fresh start. Now they're staying at the Albany Helping Hands shelter, and they came to Corvallis for Friday's resource fair with several other Albany residents.

The couple had a lengthy to-do list.

Garcia planned to visit the Legal Aid table for help with her divorce proceedings and her quest to get custody of her 4-year-old daughter.

Thompson stopped by the DMV booth for a state ID card form and got a referral to the Lions Club, which may be able to replace his broken eyeglasses. He also signed up for a turn in the mobile dental van in the church parking lot, where he hoped to find some relief from his painful wisdom teeth.

And they both wanted to talk to the folks from the Linn Benton Housing Authority about getting into a subsidized apartment.

"Hopefully, whenever we get married, we'll have a place; be able to start a family," Thompson said. "Hopefully, everything will work out."

Community Services Consortium co-sponsored the event with Benton County in conjunction with Friday's rollout of the county's 10-year plan to address homelessness. Advocates for the homeless have put on similar resource fairs in Albany in recent years, but this was the first one in Corvallis.

Normally the basement at First Christian Church houses the Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center, a gathering place for local people with no home to call their own. But Jennifer Ambrosius, the homeless woman who runs the center, said she didn't mind giving the space up for a day.

"I'm waiting for the dental van," she said, pulling back her lip to display a decayed tooth.

"I got my hair trimmed, too. I was really tired of the knots."

Gammon and Gaylene Edblom, her co-worker at the Corvallis Supercuts franchise, were in demand from the minute the doors opened at 9 a.m. The two women donated their services for the event, which ran until 2 p.m.

There were plenty of other freebies besides haircuts - everything from sack lunches to reading glasses, hand sanitizer, snack crackers, Power Bars, shampoo, flashlights, pet food and warm winter coats.

One table even offered free condoms along with information on AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and free testing for HIV and hepatitis were available on site.

The homeless population is especially vulnerable to the virus that causes AIDS, said volunteer Margo Denison.

"I want people to know about testing," she said, "how you get HIV and how you don't get HIV."

Community Outreach Inc. was handing out free bags of M&Ms to get people to come to its table, where the nonprofit agency was providing information about its health clinics, drug and alcohol treatment programs, veterans' assistance and other services.

Development director Kari Whitacre said COI's 70-bed Corvallis shelter is full to capacity right now.

"Last week I think we had 12 kids under the age of 7," she said.

The recession is forcing lots of people into homelessness, Whitacre said, and International Paper's decision this week to shut down the Albany paper mill is likely to raise the mid-valley's misery quotient higher still.

"I'm a little worried with the mill closing," she said. "More than half our population lives in Linn County. Even with unemployment, you still need to pay for food and medical treatment. How do you access health care?"

Dennis Van Orden, an unemployed former sawmill worker, moved to Corvallis recently from Eugene to get veterans' services offered through Community Outreach. He's staying at the shelter for now, but hopes to move into permanent housing soon and find a job in the area.

"I've always liked Corvallis," he said. "Everybody here's been real helpful and friendly."

Agencies represented at the event included the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, the state Department of Human Services, Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division, Senior and Disability Services, Legal Aid, Linn Benton Housing Authority and the Benton County Health Department.

Also on hand were Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ), Oxford House, the Vina Moses Center, Project Action, the Jackson Street Youth Shelter, Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services, the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, Heartland Humane Society, the St. Marys Emergency Assistance Fund and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.