The old motel rooms located just south of the Connection homeless shelter, ave been demolished, as well as the house that once was the Cycle Sport store.

They will be replaced by tiny houses, which will be intended for use by indigent veterans as they get back on their feet.

The tiny houses will be placed as soon as utility lines are upgraded, and the footings are poured, Executive Director Ashley Lewis told the Bulletin.  

Lewis said two of the houses have been constructed by Mid-Plains College’s ready-to-work program. A construction groundbreaking will be held at 11:30 a.m. on May 28 at the site, Connection vice-president Judy Pederson said.

Lewis recently told the Lincoln County Commissioners about her work with homeless veterans and others, including “Stan” a long-time homeless veteran, and “Bob”, who had a severe stroke which greatly impacted his cognitive abilities including his verbal capacity.

Her talk was part of a continuing series of presentations to the commissioners by non-profit service groups in the city who are concerned about funding cuts.

Here is what Lewis said:

“Thank you for the opportunity to share with you a little bit about the work we do at The Connection.

“I know you lead each meeting with an opening prayer that touches on your service to the people in our county, and often to helping those most vulnerable. I take that to heart and deeply appreciate those sentiments. I know you all do your best to help our community nonprofits and keep those who are most vulnerable at the top of mind.

“The Connection Homeless Shelter, Inc. was established in 1994, and what was once a program providing single homeless men with a meal and a bed for the night has evolved into a 65-bed facility serving men, women, and children experiencing homelessness and at-risk of homelessness in western Nebraska.

“We offer a variety of programs, providing basic necessities, life skills education, and housing-focused services to the low-income members of our community.

“In 2024, we served 339 unique individuals, an 8% increase from 2023 and a 24% increase from 2022.

“According to the Census Bureau, 12.5% of people living in Lincoln County live in poverty, many more of our county residents are considered low-income and are just one car breakdown, accident, or major medical event away from poverty. We’ve all faced those types of unexpected expenses, and it’s even harder when you have kids to support or experience other major barriers that make life more difficult. If we have an economic downturn in the future, more may find themselves in poverty and in need of our services.

“When evaluating The Connection and its success, we often talk in terms of increased self-sufficiency, stability, and ultimately the improved ability of those we serve to obtain and maintain appropriate permanent housing.

“But in my years spent leading this organization, I have come to recognize that success looks different for every single person who walks through our doors.

“Today, I’d like to share with you a few different stories of individuals who have been served in different ways by The Connection and what success has meant to them.

“Before I begin, I also want to share that the first two stories use pseudo-names as they are okay with sharing their stories but wanted to remain anonymous.

Jerry

“Jerry came to The Connection from the behavioral health floor of Great Plains Health about a month ago. He experiences severe and persistent mental illness and has been served in mental and behavioral health programs for the majority of his life.

“For the last month, The Connection’s staff has been working to ensure Jerry is consistent in his medication management which includes daily reminders at his prescribed medication times. Last week, Jerry reminded our staff at the correct time that he needed to take his medication, and then spent Friday working with the staff to set up a weekly med box so he could do better with remembering to take the correct medications and dosages at the right times.

“Although this seems small in the eyes of many, this is one large step toward a more independent and stable life for Jerry.

Stan

“Stan has been with us at the shelter for about 16 months. The history he’s willing to share suggest that he has been experiencing primarily unsheltered homelessness as long as I have been alive but that he often feels safer being exposed outside then with four walls around him.

“Stan is a veteran who has been offered numerous levels of Veterans services but has failed to move forward with any of the programs. This is due to Stan’s experiences with severe and persistent mental health conditions that lead him to be extremely distrustful of systems and most of the people involved in them. His willingness to remain at the shelter tell us that he is learning to trust us and that our intentions are good. The Connection is currently working to clear and ready the property we own on East Fifth St. to place tiny houses that are being constructed through a partnership with Mid-Plains Community Colleges Ready-to-Work program, and the first of these houses is earmarked for Stan.

“Many times, Stan has expressed a desire to exit the shelter and return to unsheltered homelessness and has also shared that sometimes it’s just better for him to be outside. During these conversations Stan is reminded about the tiny home that is almost ready for him and that once he has his own home he can go stay outside any time he wants but that he’ll always have somewhere safe to return to.

“So far this has kept Stan around and our entire staff is rooting for the day we get the house placed and Stan has a place to call his own.

Catherine

“Catherine came to the shelter as an employee through the Aid to Dependent Children’s Equus Work Experience Program. A young single mother with a difficult history, Catherine was working to improve life for her and her daughter.

“A few months into working at the shelter through the Equus program and Catherine had shown her strong work ethic and genuine desire to work with the population we were serving so she was offered a permanent shelter position, it wasn’t long after this that she relapsed in her addiction.

“I remember the day I knew I needed to address Catherine on her relapse, although her work ethic had remained the same it was obvious something was going on and out of concern for her as well as the shelter, I called her into my office to talk.

“Now I don’t remember this but when we talk about it now, it’s something she likes to share, during that conversation I told her that she wasn’t a bad person for using, which to her in that moment was the support she needed. Catherine has been sober now for almost 6 years, she’s thriving, an incredible mother, and continues to be one of the most dependable and consistent staff at the shelter.

Bob

“Finally, Bob. Bob lived in the apartments we’re currently tearing down for the Tiny Homes for Veterans, long before the shelter acquired them. He had a severe stroke which had greatly impacted his cognitive abilities including his verbal capacity. When I met Bob, he remembered very little of his history and what I knew came from his neighbors in the complex.

“In 2018, Bob was struggling to pay his rent despite its low rate and having a steady monthly income. I knew that Bob drank and smoked and was worried he was being taken advantaged of so I contacted Adult Protective Services. It was decided that due to Bob’s diminished capacity he would in the least need the assistance of a Payee to help manage his social security disability income. If you don’t know, payees and guardians are in short supply throughout our state but very much so in our rural communities and Social Security was having difficulty finding someone to take on being Bob’s payee.

“Wanting to stabilize Bob’s care, I took on the role of being his payee, which went great for about a year. During an annual reevaluation it was determined that Bob need a higher level of care and I was asked to become his guardian. For five years I acted as Bob’s guardian, getting him to medical appointments, working to maintain his benefits, and struggling to find out more about the life he had lived.

“In 2023, Bob experienced a variety of setbacks including a severe burn to his left hand, two eye surgeries, and the eventual decline of his health. Bob passed away in 2023 in Omaha from surgical complications, but remained housed until his death and still remains a beloved memory with the shelter staff.

“I could probably spend the next few hours telling stories of the people I’ve served but I hope with these I was able to provide you with a different perspective of who we are serving and how we serve them as well as the many ways we get to celebrate success at the shelter.

“With the potential for both federal and state funding cuts, The Connection stands to lose a quarter of our shelter operating budget and our full Joint Transitional Housing/Rapid Rehousing program budget, and any decrease in funding would lead to a decreasing capacity within our organization.

“I’ve spent a lot of time these last few months contemplating different scenarios in my head and the possible ways to address them that would allow us to continue serving our community and some of our nation’s most vulnerable humans, and even in the worst of these moments I go back to the same thing.

Our community. I have been humbled over these years to experience the incredibly supportive, compassionate nature of our community and I’m grateful to live in a county where when people are in need there is no shortage of those willing to step up and help our where they are able.”

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