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Connection Homeless Shelter outlines services, warns of funding cuts
Summary
The Connection Homeless Shelter described client supports, capacity and recent service trends and urged continued community support amid possible federal and state funding reductions.
The Connection Homeless Shelter Inc. told the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on May 5 that the organization is a 65‑bed facility serving men, women and children and has seen rising demand for services in recent years.
Director Ashley Lewis said the shelter provided services to 339 unique individuals in 2024, an 8% increase from 2023 and a 24% increase from 2022. “Success looks different for every single person who walks through our doors,” Lewis said, describing housing‑focused casework, medication management and job placements as examples of outcomes staff pursue.
Nebraska Community Foundation Executive Director Eric Seacrest, who said his organization will serve as a fiscal pass‑through for local grant efforts, warned commissioners that proposed federal and state funding changes could reduce the shelter’s operating budget by about a quarter and eliminate funding for its transitional housing and rapid‑rehousing program. Lewis told commissioners that any reduction in those funds would reduce the shelter’s capacity to serve people experiencing homelessness.
Lewis shared several client vignettes to illustrate services: a client recently stabilized on medication with staff help; a veteran with long‑term unsheltered homelessness has been matched with a tiny home that is being developed through a partnership with Mid Plains Community College’s Ready to Work program; and a former program participant is now a full‑time shelter employee after completing a work‑experience program.
County commissioners asked no substantive follow‑up questions during the presentation. Lewis and Seacrest urged continued community support and participation in local giving efforts; Seacrest noted North Platte Giving Day would run May 7 and said the Community Foundation covers administrative costs so donors’ gifts go directly to nonprofits.
The shelter’s representatives did not request a specific county appropriation during the meeting; they left commissioners with information about client needs, program outcomes and a warning about funding uncertainty.
The board received the presentation and offered thanks to the shelter and its partners.
