NEBRASKA CITY – The bitter cold in southeast Nebraska is raising the call for an area shelter.

A homeless shelter was proposed as the area’s greatest need in a Southeast Community Action Survey last spring after police reported 20 unsheltered people living on the streets in Nebraska City alone.

Family Development Specialist Patrice Groves said wind chills of 30 degrees below zero punctuate the need.

 

Groves: “When it comes down to it, in this area like all our small towns, a shelter is something we need for people to go to 24 hours a day.

If all they need is a hot meal they can get that.”

 

 

Nebraska is halfway through its 10-year plan to end homelessness and reported in 2017 there are still 3,317 homeless on any given day.

End Homelessness.org estimates that 550 of those are living outside of Omaha, Lincoln or Sioux City.

Groves: “We actually just did a count for how many homeless people are in our area and just driving around and looking at certain times of the day it’s clear we have … I’m sure we have more than 20 just in Nebraska City alone.”

A state report says 45 percent of people staying in a shelter had last been staying with friends or family prior to entering the shelter. Another 25 percent had been renting.

 

Groves: “SENCA does a lot to help people as far as helping with rent and stuff like that, but when it comes to someone being completely homeless, sometimes the things they are thinking about are not necessarily about getting a home. It’s finding shelter for a night or eating, or getting something to drink or taking a shower and I think we need something in place for those situations.”

Groves said there is momentum for a shelter in southeast Nebraska, but said things are moving a lot slower than they need to be.