Coughs and throats clearing punctuate the heavy silence as the audience waits for the show to begin. The stage is clear except a few chairs, a couple of tables, and a mural landscaping the back wall. The mural depicts a collage of pictures in street-tag style, courtesy of artist Hugo Zamorano.

It is hardly breaking news that some areas of Nebraska are dealing with a shortage of attorneys. Some recent reports have suggested that around a dozen counties are without a single attorney based within the county lines.

As of 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that roughly 580,000 people across the country are experiencing homelessness. In Nebraska alone it is estimated that at any one time around 2,400 people are left without a stable home to live in. Siena Francis House is trying to change that by making sure no one is left out in the cold.

In March 2016, Makaela Parsons was 38 weeks pregnant and eagerly awaiting the arrival of a baby girl named Kemptynn. She began feeling pain and fatigue but knew that women at this stage of pregnancy are often uncomfortable and thought that any discomfort was typical. When she noticed that Kemptynn had stopped moving regularly, her doctor advised her to count the baby’s kicks. After 30 minutes of feeling no movement, she and her husband Travis decided it was time to go to the hospital.