Staff Spotlight: Connor

Meet Connor! Connor has been a part of our Maintenance team for several months now, and he’s using his talents and gifts to serve our guests both in his official role and in many other ways. Being employed at New Visions feels like a “full circle” moment for Connor, as he spent 4 years of his life being homeless himself and spent time in prison and addicted to drugs. Having been a part of that life, Connor knows several of our guests personally. “I’ve spent hours sitting out on the curb and sharing my story,” he says, “most of the people I talk to can’t believe it’s me sitting next to them because the last they knew of me, I weighed only 80 lbs and had just gone to federal prison.”

But before homelessness and prison, Connor was a star athlete in high school, and was even named the Council Bluffs All-City player of the year in both football and soccer. At 19 years old, an appendicitis first introduced him to opioids, and the pain relievers quickly escalated into an addiction that spiraled out of control. Connor’s family leads a church in Council Bluffs, and while they initially struggled to deal with his addiction, they never gave up on him. Now Connor sees that same persistence in our staff at New Visions.  “When I see people I know who are still stuck in their addiction and homelessness,” says Connor, “I tell them all they need to do is to walk in our doors at New Visions and seek out a case worker. After that, those case workers will hunt you down to take you to appointments, help you get housing, or help you get clean. They won’t give up on you.”

And Connor doesn’t give up on people either. Connor’s own recovery from drug addiction and his determination to start a new life has already encouraged some of our guests to start their own journey of recovery. “I recently met someone at New Visions who I shot up with heroin years ago,” says Connor. “The caseworkers knew that my past with him might help convince him to get treatment. It was a long process and I literally had to chase him all over Council Bluffs, but I never gave up on him and now I’ve been a part of getting him to treatment.”

It’s this kind of relentless pursuit to help others that makes Connor a perfect fit for New Visions.

Connor describes himself as caring, honest, and outgoing, and in his few short months on staff, he’s already realized that his job goes much deeper than the simple acts of picking up trash around our campus or fixing something in the kitchen – Connor has already seen that these moments can lead to transformational conversations and ultimately changed lives.

Connor has been out of prison and drug-free for almost 2 years, and he’s now enjoying things like going to concerts, eating steak, and being a part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Connor is proud to have overcome so many things, but he gives credit to his faith in God and to his family for saving his life and setting him on a better path. “When I was in prison,” says Connor, “I didn’t pray to get out or for my time to be reduced. I was grateful to be there because that’s what it took for me to finally let Jesus save me.” At New Visions, we’re grateful too for Connor’s changed life and for all of the persistent people who never gave up on him. We’re humbled to walk alongside of Connor as we work together to offer help, hope, and opportunity for those who need it.