LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln program is helping to connect police officers, mental health providers and people who need mental health services.

The REAL Program provides contacts for those who need somewhere to sleep, a pamphlet of resources or someone who will listen to them.

The program run by the Mental Health Association of Nebraska also uses people who have struggled with mental illness to work with those who need hope.

Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom Casady says police officers have always had to deal with people with mental health issues, but the number of those calls has grown with the population.