Housing, Safety, & Financial Stability

Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault

The goals of the Heartland Family Service Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault services are to keep victims safe, stop the violence, and hold offenders accountable. The service strives to achieve these goals by providing emergency services to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The services include a 24-hour crisis line, crisis counseling, the Safe Haven concealed emergency shelter, advocacy, therapy, and legal and support services.

Comprehensive services for individuals and families include:

• 24/7 Crisis Line | (800) 523-3666
• Advocacy
• Community education
• Crisis counseling
• Safe Haven concealed emergency shelter
• Therapy
• Support groups for women and men

Eligibility: Our services are gender inclusive for adults with child(ren) in immediate need of concealed shelter due to domestic or sexual violence living in Cass or Sarpy Counties, Nebraska.

Funding: This program is made possible with generous support from the United Way of the Midlands.

A total of $329,785, or 26%, of this project is supported by federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) subgrant #144-2022-VA1012, awarded by the Nebraska Crime Commission through funding provided by Office for Victims of Crime, Department of Justice; in addition, $74,802, or 6%, is supported by subgrant #144-2021-VW-4013; and points of view or opinions contained in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Commission or the Department of Justice.

Heartland Housing Sanctuary

A crisis stabilization shelter serving survivors of sex trafficking. Heartland Housing Sanctuary is a facility-based program that houses up to 14 individuals or adults with children. The location of the facility is confidential to ensure the safety of its residents. The shelter is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides an array of services including advocacy, therapy, and case management.

Referrals can be received from survivors, social service agencies, and law enforcement, with no state stipulation.

Contact: 24/7 Shelter Lines: (402) 597-1009 | (402) 672-8608 | SanctuaryHouse@HeartlandFamilyService.org

Funding for the Heartland Housing Sanctuary program is provided, in part, by a generous grant from the Medica Foundation.

Homeless Diversion & Prevention

The purpose of the Heartland Family Service Homeless Diversion services are to assist households who are at immediate risk of homelessness and seeking emergency shelter to identify safe, alternate housing arrangements, and if necessary, connect them with community referrals and financial assistance to help them obtain or return to housing.

Through identifying solutions and alternate housing arrangements, Diversion Specialists seek to immediately resolve a family’s housing crisis using a mediation and conflict resolution approach.

Eligibility: Must be at immediate risk of homelessness and seeking emergency shelter. Services are provided in Pottawattamie county in Iowa and Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE HOMELESS DIVERSION PROGRAM REFERRAL FORM

Heartland Family Service Homeless Diversion services provide assistance to individuals to keep them from losing their housing and becoming homeless. This may include helping them preserve their current housing situation or identifying alternate appropriate housing options. These services provide short-term assistance via in-home case management services for up to three months. The focus of these services is on crisis resolution, linking program participants to community resources and mainstream benefits, and helping them develop a plan to prevent future housing crises. Financial assistance to address barriers to housing stability is also available on a limited basis.

Eligibility: Must live in Pottawattamie, Douglas, or Sarpy counties and be at imminent risk of homelessness.

To see if you’re eligible, please fill out our online eligibility form or contact us at:
(531) 200-3500 or HomelessPrevention@HeartlandFamilyService.org.

Funding: This program is supported in part by a grant from the United Way of the Midlands.

Rapid Rehousing

Our Rapid Rehousing programs provide temporary housing relocation and stabilization services and financial assistance for one to 24 months. To be eligible, individuals must be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation). Referrals are accepted through the community’s coordinated entry system.

Heartland Housing Connections

This program’s core components include: housing identification services, time-limited financial assistance, and case management and supportive services based on individual and family needs. The programs provide temporary (one to 24 months) financial assistance and support services.

Eligibility: Individuals must be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation), have a chronic history of homelessness, and live in Douglas, Sarpy, or Pottawattamie counties. Assistance is also available to those fleeing domestic violence, and who are literally homeless. Prioritization of individuals who are unsheltered.

Heartland Housing Opportunities

This program provides temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness.

Eligibility: Individuals must be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation) and living in Pottawattamie County, Iowa or Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

Heartland Housing Opportunities Expansion

This program provides temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness.

Eligibility: Individuals must be a family with children or youth ages 18-24, must live in Pottawattamie, Douglas, or Sarpy counties, and be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation)

Heartland Housing Passages

This program provides temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to youth who are homeless.

Eligibility: Individuals must be 18-24 years of age and literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation), and living in Pottawattamie County, Iowa and Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska. Some openings are reserved for former wards of the state.

Pottawattamie County Homeless Link (PCHL) Rapid Rehousing

This program provides temporary (one to 24 months) financial assistance and support services.

Eligibility: Individuals must be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation), and living in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

Permanent Supportive Housing

The following programs provide long-term financial assistance and supportive services for individuals and families who are experiencing long-term homelessness with one or more disabilities, such as mental health, substance abuse, or a physical disability. To be eligible, individuals must be literally homeless (living in a shelter or place not meant for habitation) and have disability. Referrals are accepted through the community’s coordinated entry system.

Heartland Homes/Transitions

Heartland Homes is is a 16-unit, facility-based, permanent supportive housing program designed to serve individuals who have experienced long-term homelessness with significant barriers to stable housing. The ultimate goal is to provide safe, stable housing and the opportunity for participants to become self-sufficient. Transitions is a seven-unit, facility-based, permanent supportive housing program.

Eligibility: Individuals must be chronically homeless and have a disability. Services are provided in Pottawattamie county, Iowa.

Heartland Housing Solutions

Heartland Housing Solutions is a scattered-site, permanent supportive housing program that serves individuals and families who are literally homeless and have a disability. The scattered-site nature of the program provides individuals and families with long-term financial assistance and in-home supportive services to obtain and maintain housing within the community. The program is designed to serve individuals with significant barriers to stable housing. The ultimate goal is to assist participants in maintaining permanent housing and to prevent any recurrence of homelessness.

Eligibility: Individuals or families must be literally homeless, have a disability. Services are provided in Pottawattamie County in Iowa or Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

Support Services

Our Support Services programs provide outreach and case management services. The services are designed to connect individuals experiencing homelessness or a housing crisis to safe and affordable housing options. These include connections to our Homeless Services programs, via the community’s coordinated entry system, as well as a broad range of other housing options in the community.

Heartland Housing Navigation

Heartland Housing Navigation seeks to ensure all homeless individuals have a housing plan and are working towards obtaining permanent housing. To be eligible, participants must be living at partnering emergency shelters, a youth between the ages of 18 and 24 who is living in an emergency shelter or couch surfing, or referred by the Homeless Review Team.

Eligibility: Participants must reside in Pottawattamie County in Iowa or Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

Homeless Street Outreach

Assessment and case management services for individuals who are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation (streets, abandoned buildings, cars, etc.). The goal is to assist individuals in locating permanent housing and gaining access to mainstream benefits. Participants receive housing referrals, transportation, crisis interventions, and basic supplies, such as food, clothing, blankets, etc.

Eligibility: Services are provided in Pottawattamie County in Iowa and Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

Pottawattamie County Homeless Link (PATH) Case Management

Provides supportive services to individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in the Council Bluffs metropolitan area and have a serious mental health condition or a co-occurring disorder  to obtain appropriate and stable housing.

Eligibility: Services are provided in Harrison, Mills, and Pottawattamie Counties in Iowa.