Thanks to the generosity of UWM donors, the agency will be able to continue offering these vital services that empower youth and families to improve their overall well-being.
Heartland Family Service Ready in 5 services assist refugee families prepare their preschool-aged children for success in American kindergarten by providing in-home weekly educational groups. Parents develop skills in early childhood best practices and are shown ways to integrate cognitive and social skill-building as a part of their daily routines.
Heartland Family Service Positive Parenting Groups are offered for parents/caregivers with children of any age. The Nurturing Parenting curriculum is a 12-week course designed to help parents acquire knowledge and skills to improve overall parenting skills and address known contributors to child maltreatment. We also offer an 8-week Circle of Security-Parenting course to promote secure attachment by focusing on the parent/caregivers’ understanding of their child’s emotional world.
With the help of this grant, Heartland Family Service is able to continue offering family-centered, community-based, and culturally competent services designed to support and stabilize vulnerable youth and their families.
Heartland Family Service’s R-HOPE program helps clients like Yasmine, a young teenager whose mother sought help from the program’s youth success coaching services, when her daughter started having trouble in school. With the help of the program’s case manager, Yasmine and her mother identified and eliminated the reason for her truancy. By the end of her time working with the R-HOPE program staff, Yasmine was again seeing success in her academics and was even on track for an early graduation.
“Heartland Family Service is so thankful for this generous grant from United Way of the Midlands,” said John Jeanetta, President & CEO of Heartland Family Service. “The grant will help us to continue offering our life-changing services to the many we serve in the Ready in 5 and Positive Parenting Group R-HOPE services.”
About United Way of the Midlands:
For the past 99 years, United Way of the Midlands (UWM) has used its community-wide perspective to identify local needs that are going unseen or unmet – and how it can partner with corporate, government organizations, nonprofits and donors to tackle them. Today, UWM remains committed to uniting our community’s caring spirit to build a stronger tomorrow. It invests donor dollars in more than 100 local nonprofit programs that, together, form a circle of support around our community. These programs are addressing pressing social and economic disparities and providing the essentials families need to thrive, such as healthy food, a safe place to go after school and job support.
About Heartland Family Service:
Since 1875, Heartland Family Service has responded to the needs of our area’s most vulnerable children and families. Last year, our agency connected with over 140,000 individuals through direct services, education, and outreach. Our programs serve individuals of all ages — from infants in our Family Works program to seniors in our Generations Community Center. We operate from 19 locations in east central Nebraska and southwest Iowa. We provide critical human services to the individuals and families who ultimately shape the future of our community through the following program areas: Child & Family Well-Being, Counseling & Prevention, and Housing, Safety, & Financial Stability.
