Facing homelessness and underemployment in rural Nebraska, David Santos packed his van with his belongings and set his sights on a fresh start in Colorado.
At 21, he moved to Nebraska to advance his construction career and be closer to family; however, starting over proved more challenging than expected.
Initially couch surfing, David eventually found himself in temporary housing at a local hotel, but funds ran low. “I found myself out of options,” he recalled. Despite reaching out to the local housing authority, immediate options were complex, especially given his pets, Midnight and Klaus, with whom he refused to part.
With little choice left, David felt he had limited options. “I had packed my things, and I was ready to go to Colorado and wing it,” David describes. “Literally wing it. I had no plan or nothing at all.”
A Phone Call Changed the Path Forward
Just as he was about to set his plans into motion, a phone call changed everything. It was Zach Preble from Central Plains Center for Services. Zach had received a referral through a risk assessment when David inquired about housing options.
As a Transitional and Independent Living Coach (PALS Coach), Zach was reaching out to offer a helping hand. The PALS program is funded by the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Connected Youth Initiative (CYI) and managed by Central Plains Center for Services. The PALS coaching program is a one-on-one coaching support to help and guide young adults in all aspects of life, including education attainment, housing, employment, transportation, health, and community engagement. The program aims to develop meaningful and trusting relationships between a coach and young adults to pair them with resources and opportunities to help them thrive.
Despite David’s upcoming departure, Zach urged him to reconsider. There were options available to David and they could explore them together.
In that moment, David remarks, “I felt like it was a higher power that connected us because I was about to leave. I was 110% dead set on leaving.”
Connection to Career Exploration
The initial phone call was a different experience for Zach. He recalls, “David told me that he was leaving for Colorado the very next morning, so he didn’t think I could help him.”
But Zach wasn’t the type to give up easily. His approach was different—grounded in a genuine interest in youth like David and a desire to provide meaningful support. “Most people could have been like ‘ok’ and hung up the phone and not thought much more about it,” David recalls. “Not Zach.” Zach’s offer to meet and discuss potential options was the support rope that David needed, and that night, he chose to grab it.
The two quickly got to work. The first priority was to extend David’s stay at the hotel utilizing funds that Zach was able to obtain for David until they could secure permanent housing. They began meeting regularly, building a relationship grounded in mutual respect and care. Zach’s approach was not to provide answers but to empower David to chart his path.
Overcoming Obstacles Along the Path
Through coaching, Zach offered guidance and access to services to many of David’s challenges, but Zach understood that the real solutions lay within David himself. As he was able to connect David to resources that he could use along his journey, it ultimately came down to David’s willingness to embrace the support and take the necessary steps for change.
Zach humbly reflects on his relationship with David, “We had the initial conversation, and then he took the ball and ran with it.” David’s dedication and proactive approach fueled his success, helping him overcome challenges.
However, the transformation wasn’t without its hurdles. David faced many obstacles, such as the lack of funds to purchase professional attire for an interview, the inability to ensure food security, and the difficulty of addressing a health issue identified during a routine physical. Zach leveraged his network to connect David with the necessary support systems, preventing these challenges from becoming roadblocks.
At one time, David’s van broke down. Undeterred, David would walk through town in the snow to get to work. “He was walking two miles to get to work, then another mile to go to the doctor, and then another mile to his hotel, every day,” Zach recalls. “He didn’t think twice; he didn’t complain. He just did it. At one point, he had a bike, and it got stolen, but he just kept plugging away.”
Supports Along the Journey
Through the coaching relationship, David could access several supports through his community and Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Connected Youth Initiative. Supports from CYI included assistance with health issues, help purchasing clothing for job interviews, foods in times of instability, and most recently, participation in the Opportunity PassportTM program.
The Opportunity PassportTM program is a coaching curriculum that promotes financial literacy and asset-building and which is also offered statewide. Participants work one-on-one with a coach as they learn financial literacy and asset-specific training, which allows young adults to achieve economic stability and self-sufficiency by focusing on increasing earning potential, budgeting, reducing debt, opening personal banking accounts, understanding and appropriately utilizing credit, saving, and investing. For David, that meant saving funds to purchase more reliable transportation.
Strengths-Based, One-on-One Coaching and Career Exploration
Prior to meeting Zach, David was stuck in a cycle of unreliable, temporary jobs, adding to his stress. Zach’s coaching wasn’t just about finding any job but about envisioning a fulfilling career.
Their discussions were like mapping a trail. Zach encouraged David to focus on his strengths and interests, prompting him to look beyond survival. This guidance led David to consider training as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), a role that matched his compassionate nature and previously, had never crossed his mind. Shifting to a new career path was challenging, but David’s passion for helping others and his positive outlook made the CNA role a natural fit.
“He had a lot of great qualities, and I wanted to build from that,” explains Zach. “David is very smart and has a natural interest in the medical field, but it goes beyond that. He has an intuition on what the body needs to perform best.”
“Before I met Zach, I was working for a temp agency. I would work a bunch, and then even in my time off, I was stressing about where I was going to get money, now I’m in such a good place mentally, physically, and spiritually with my dogs and my house, “ David recalls. “My life made a complete 360.”
David interviewed for the CNA position at the local veteran’s home and was hired. He enjoys the work and is excited to continue a career in the medical field. The job also provides him with a more stable income and consistent schedule, while allowing him to combine his interests with his passion for helping others.
A Rear-View Mirror Reflection
Reflecting on his journey, it’s clear how different David’s story could have been had he not accepted the offer of support. Instead, David embraced the opportunity to grow, staying true to his original goal when he moved to Nebraska. With Zach’s guidance, he overcame challenges and found strength in their connection.
David recalls his initial goals with a sense of accomplishment. “Honestly, my goals initially were that I just really wanted a place to cook my food. As much as that does not sound like a huge goal or whatever, to me, it was immense.” Through his connection to the supports available through Zach, David was able to find stable housing, a significant milestone in his life.
As David looks to the future, he envisions continued growth and exploration. He dreams of traveling, making a difference, and embracing new opportunities. And when life throws an obstacle in his way, he now has the tools within himself to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. His story is a powerful reminder that sometimes, it takes the insight and support of another to help navigate through life’s toughest terrains. It’s relationships that provide the rock-solid ground necessary to excel.
“Zach helped me become the best version of myself,” David affirms. “I stepped into being this caring, go-getter person.” Zach’s influence went beyond practical assistance; it touched every aspect of David’s life—mental, spiritual, and financial. “Not many relationships do that,” David reflects, “but Zach’s did.”
More About Connected Youth Initiative:
David’s story demonstrates the transformative power of positive relationships and the belief in one’s potential.
His experience with the Connected Youth Initiative and its partner, Central Plains Center for Services, has provided David with invaluable support and opportunities to thrive. From housing to food security to medical assistance, these programs have been a lifeline, connecting David to a network of resources and individuals who believe in his capacity to achieve great things.
Nebraska’s Connected Youth Initative works to empower Nebraska’s young people to create change to improve the quality of life for young people who have experience in foster care, the juvenile justice system, are unhoused or homeless, survivors of human trafficking, and/or who are pregnant or parenting by advocating for better practices and policies, training providers to strengthen local practices, and supporting service providers in the community to implement strength-based, youth-led core programs for transition-aged youth.
More about Nebraska Children and Families Foundation:
Nebraska Children and Families Foundation aims to strengthen communities, so that all children, young people, and families thrive. An important component to achieving this reality is ensuring that parents/caregivers and young people with lived experience can be a part of community growth. This is done by committing to co-creating empowering spaces with and for young people to engage and lead in our organization and across Nebraska.
Nebraska Children’s mission is to create positive change for Nebraska’s children through community engagement.
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