Event at PBA offers help to hundreds of Lincoln’s homeless

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lincoln Homeless Coalition once again hosted Project Connect Lincoln at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday.

The event offered a one-stop shop of goods and services such as haircuts, health care, job recruiters, clothing, bike repair and even veterinary services.

Each guest gets paired up with a volunteer navigator and offered a meal at the end.

One attendee, Widene Porter, said he wanted to have his teeth checked out and get his dog some vaccinations.

“We came into some hard times about a year ago and stuff, and we’ve just been trying to recover since then,” he said. “Over the last year, we’ve stayed at truck stops and just different random places trying to get back on our feet.”

Lee Heflebower, a co-chair of the project, said organizers expected about 500 people to attend, with 100 organizations offering services.

For anyone who couldn’t attend, she recommended using MyLink to find resources in Lincoln.

Heflebower said people don’t always notice the homeless population in Lincoln, but it’s important to be aware that even your friends and family can be going through hard times.

“There’s that misconception that people aren’t working very hard to get out of their situation,” she said, “when the people that we’re serving here are working very hard to get connected with services and get back on track with their lives.”

Those who attended the event agree and said getting this kind of help from the community can change lives.

“It gives people a chance to actually help themselves,” Porter said, “and come out here and make an effort to try to better their lives and try to become successful people again.”