The Connection Homeless Shelter

In North Platte, it’s not hard to find someone who used to be homeless, except that it’s hard to know who they are because they look just like everyone else. For eleven years The Connection homeless shelter has been meeting the needs of the homeless in greater Nebraska, with the aim of bringing each one a step closer to home.

An average of 500-600 homeless people each year are served two good meals a day, provided a safe, warm bed and invited to discuss their situations with an in-house case manager. Singles stay in the men’s or women’s dorms, while families stay in one of four upstairs apartments.

The Connection is an active participant in the Southwest Nebraska Continuum of Care, which links it to homeless service providers from Kearney to Ogallala and McCook. The shelter is also tightly networked with other service providers in North Platte to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure that there are no gaps in services.

Residents may stay initially with few strings attached, but as the staff gets to know them, they must increasingly commit to goals that will reduce or eliminate barriers to moving into a permanent housing situation. The reasons for homelessness vary widely, so the steps that must be taken to achieve permanent housing also vary considerably.

Clients who stay longer move into a Transitional Housing Program. This is because in order to stop homelessness, it is first necessary to stop the homeless. As long as the homeless are transient or highly mobile, no one can get to know them well enough to find out what their real needs or barriers are. Our goal is to keep individuals or families in the shelter long enough to get at core issues and begin to help address those issues with the help of our network of resources.

Unfortunately, the present shelter is not conducive to longer term stays. The building is old and was designed as a restaurant downstairs. In addition to safety concerns, there is nowhere for children to play inside or outside. All plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems are antiquated and expensive to maintain. Utility costs are high. There is no way to separate men’s lounge areas from women’s, nor singles’ from families’. There is no parking available to shelter residents. Sadly, in spite of our efforts, the whole place gives off a feeling of “old and dumpy.” Such an atmosphere is not conducive to personal growth and health.

We have purchased the land for the new shelter, thanks to a community-wide effort. The land is in a perfect spot, within easy walking distance of social services and other needs. Zoning already permits our uses and we in fact can do better than the zoning requires. There is space for parking, children’s outdoor play area, adults’ outdoor areas, and a building a little bigger than our current facility. We already own a thriving thrift store on one end of the property, providing thousands of dollars of support for the shelter annually. The land has been cleared of old buildings and surveyed. Soil sampling has been done. The architectural plans have been drawn up and paid for.

Fundraising efforts have included a 1,000-mile walk around Nebraska by the Executive Director and his wife, bringing in around $150,000, and a recent boat trip across the state, when the Executive Director poled and paddled his homemade flatboat, Plattepus I from the Wyoming border to the Missouri River in 13 days, thus far bringing in about $10,000.

While net proceeds from the Plattepus Waterfest will all go toward the new building, you may want to just send a donation “for the cause.” If so, we would be very grateful. All donations are tax deductible. Please send them to:

The Connection
Att: New Building Fund
P.O. Box 1881
North Platte, NE 69103-1881

For further information, don’t hesitate to contact us at 308-532-5050 or 308-539-4895.

Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at the Plattepus Waterfest!

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