Parole Officers Participate in Project Homeless Connect
On October 16, 2018, two Parole Officers out of the Lincoln Regional Office were among the over 300 volunteers who helped put together the 10th Annual Homeless Connect Lincoln. Senior Parole Officer Don Nevins was a navigator as he has been in years past and Specialized Parole Officer Andrea Wever was part of the “Dream Team”, a group of ten experienced navigators that were there to guide new navigators. This event was in conjunction with Stand Down, the Veterans Administration’s event to assist homeless and near homeless clients in the Lincoln and surrounding areas.
This event greatly impacts this community in a variety of ways. Clients are matched up with services and service providers who can assist in ever expanding ways. Legal services were on site to help clear misdemeanor warrants, deal with child support issues, and advise in legal matters. There were reentry services, housing services, utility services, substance abuse providers, early childhood intervention, and many others. At this event over 1,000 meals were served, 60 companion animals received essential care and grooming, 98 immunizations, 47 people received foot care, 85 dental screenings, 57 vision screenings, 74 people utilized the job search area, 190 haircuts, 16 bikes were repaired, numerous bike locks were given out, and 100’s of people were given clothing, blankets, and toiletries. A whopping 576 people in this community were served on that day.
This event continues to grow every year. Many of these clients are also clients of parole and previously incarcerated individuals. It is a great aid to be able to get all these groups and services in one easily accessible location. Service providers were wonderful to work with and if they could not help a client they often knew another provider who could. The Lincoln Homeless Commission was able to celebrate at this year’s event that Lincoln had reached Virtual Zero on veteran homelessness. This is due in part to all the hard work at this event and others for which they assist. Furthermore, Serve Nebraska recognized the volunteer group as a finalist for demonstrating leadership, innovation, and hard work in service to others in the State of Nebraska.