Yale Park Refugee Family Sponsorship
On Thursday, September 20th, 2018 the city of Omaha conducted a complex-wide investigation at Yale Park in Omaha, which housed almost 100 refugee families. That same day, the entire complex was condemned due to significant gas leaks in many units, major electrical safety issues, leaking and collapsed ceilings, and many other code violations. All of the units were vacated by the evening of September 20th and families living there were directed to two community centers for temporary housing. Heartland Family Services is actively working with all of the families to find permanent housing with the plan being that everyone should have a house or apartment to move to within a week’s time. As of Friday, September 21st, many families have already been touring apartments and homes with Heartland Family Service. All families have autonomy in choosing where they will live next.
Restoring Dignity has received many texts, calls, and emails about the needs of this community. After discussing with Heartland Family Services, we have decided that the most efficient and effective way to provide families with what they need is the following:
We are looking for churches, organizations, workplaces, neighborhood groups, etc. to sponsor one of the almost 100 families from Yale Park. Sponsorship looks like the following:
- Church/organizations/workplaces, etc. will be assigned one family and will be given a list of what that family has requested that they need for their new home. Many families will not be able to bring furniture with them due to bed bug and cockroach infestations. They will essentially be “starting over” and will need essential items likes: mattresses, blankets, sheets, dressers, towels, toiletries, kitchen table, chairs, couch etc. All items will need to be in good condition (no items from homes with bed bugs or cockroaches, and all used items need to be in good condition (no signs of wear and tear or stains).
- Each group will be responsible for obtaining donated items and storing them
- Once donated items have been acquired, each group will transport items to their sponsored family’s home.
In this way, we believe that we will be able to provide essential household items for all of the families from Yale Park in a very short time frame. Providing home furnishing for almost 100 families is an enormous task, but if each of our churches/organizations commits to one family, we can accomplish this!
To sign-up to sponsor a family, please click here.
For more information, please email Restoring Dignity at: email@rdomaha.com