He is use to a life of public service.

First a police officer.

Now as a director of North Platte's homeless shelter.

The Connection shelter has had a long tradition of dedicated and passionate executive directors, and Neal Criddle hopes to carry on that tradition.

"The Connection offers help to a lot more than what some people would see as transience. There are a lot of local people that come here for help that are just in a bad spot in life, and just need some help to get things regrouped, reorganized and get back into the main flow of society,” says Neal Criddle, New Executive Director.

Neal is a former North Platte police officer with nine years of experience on the force, and Board of Directors feels that he will make a great asset to the shelter as well as to the homeless population.

"I think all my prior employments have a lot to offer this job here. Primarily with the law enforcement background and working with all sections of society, making my first contacts with people that need help and learning how to refer them to get that help and that sort of thing,” says Criddle.

Of course any new job has its challenges, and Neal is ready to take on those challenges. One of those is maintaining the programs offered at the Connection and insuring their financial stability.

"My goals would be just to keep The Connection a viable resource within the community. Making sure people have a good understanding of the work that we do here, and the ministry that takes place. With the condition that Washington is in right now, you don't know about certain grants or how things are going to turn out in the wash and we just need to make sure that our fundraising efforts stay where they need to be,” says Criddle.

Neal Criddle replaced Roy Lawton that was hired to replace Ron Snell, who resigned in October of last year.