LOWNDES Co. (WCTV Eyewitness) – Within the walls of a Lowndes County shelter, the homeless are given hope.

“I would see people in the shadows and I would basically ignore them”, says Jeff Kasko.

He says he doesn’t ignore them anymore. Not since last year, when he lost his job.

He says after running out of money and hope, he too became homeless and lived at Saunders Park in Valdosta.

Kasko says it’s a place he would visit often, but now, he had no other place to go.

“If you would’ve told me six months or a year prior that I’d be in a homeless shelter, I would’ve thought you weren’t all there”, says Kasko.

After three months at the local shelter L.A.M.P., he now has a job and comes back to volunteer.

“Everyone can lose their job and potentially lose their house and where they live”, adds Kasko.

It’s a harsh reality, L.A.M.P. sees often.

As federal and state funding has scaled back, they say the demand for shelter hasn’t.

“You have so many that are trying to find that temporary shelter and some of them that are struggling to be self-sufficient”, says Sharah Denton, Development Director at L.A.M.P.

Now, they’re looking for any help they can get from the community to continue their mission.

“I’ve seen a lot of people come in and out of here and it’s rebuilt their lives”, says Kasko. “They come here with nothing, and they leave with housing and money in their back pocket.”

He says the shelter provides not only food and shelter, but a second chance.

The shelter says with the services they offer, 80% never return for state assistance again.