Sandhills Center for Hope Inc. is the product of a discussion that occurred between
Shawnda Connor and Alex Jines in 2017. Both women were sent to a training in Lincoln, on the
lengthy car ride they began discussing professional aspirations. This conversation began to
form a dream of an integrated treatment program that would address mental health and
substance use beginning at the most critical level and stepping down through less restrictive
levels of care. Both Shawnda and Alex recognized at that time that the Panhandle of Nebraska
has a shortage of mental health service providers leading to a gap in services that frequently
resulted in people being sent to programs several hours away to meet their needs. At the time
Alex and Shawnda were both young in their careers and gaining experience through work at a
different agency. Shortly after this conversation occurred, they found themselves working for
different agencies in Alliance. In 2020 they were once again working under the same roof. Once
again, the dream of Sandhills Center for Hope Inc. was rekindled. Alex, Shawnda, and Nina
Millwood began necessary documentation while searching for a location to house a dual
enhanced treatment center that could accommodate detoxification, residential care, intensive
outpatient, transitional living, outpatient and assessment. Since opening our intensive outpatient
program in late 2020 operations of the Sandhills Center for Hope have increased and in June of
2024 we opened our intensive outpatient clinic at 212 Box Butte Ave. preforming IOP,
outpatient, assessment and mental health services. We continue to remain committed to
achieving the dream of our dual enhanced treatment center and are actively working to fund the
construction of a building that would be able to house this dream.