Welcome to Heartland United Way

Hope Harbor
Barb Ernst, Executive Director
610 West Division
Grand Island, NE 68801
308-385-5190
E-mail: bernst@hopeharborgi.org
Web Site: www.hopeharborgi.org
Joined Heartland United Way in 1997

Hope Harbor’s mission is :lifting people to lives of sustainable self-sufficiency.” Hope Harbor offers five programs to carry out this mission.

Programs:

The five programs offered at Hope Harbor, are:

1. Transitional Shelter Program: This program is open to single women, families and single parents with children. Clients commit to a program that is designed to help identify barriers to self-sufficiency and set goals to address those barriers. This program provides shelter, meals, and intensive case management and support services to clients committing to the program.

2. Emergency Services Program: this program provides emergency shelter, meals, transportation and transportation vouchers, household goods, clothing, financial assistance for: I.D.'s, driver's license, school transcripts, social security cards, birth certificates, etc. needed to apply for employment and other assistance, Voice Mail boxes for messages from perspective employers and landlords, household goods and furnishings, etc. for those in need in the community.

3. Central Resource and Referral Program: Source for individuals, businesses, churches and other service providers within the community when seeking services for those in need. Referral services also include referrals to clients to link them up with other service providers in the community that are part of the local continuum of care.

4. Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Program

5. SOAR (Skills, Opportunities, Achievements, Rewards) Education Program:

Components taught by Hope Harbor Staff include:

Parenting Classes
Budgeting Classes: Components include: Develop Household Budget, Balance checkbook, Starting a Savings Account
GED Study Course

Components taught by community partners include:

K-12 Afterschool Tutor (Provided by Grand Island Public Schools Outreach Center)
Accessing Higher Education Class – (Partner is Central Community College)
Fiscal Literacy Program (Partners include Wells Fargo Bank, Consumer Credit Counseling)
Home Management and First Time Homebuyer Education (Partners include Hall County Extension Office / Housing Development Corporation, HUD, Consumer Credit Counseling)
Nutrition Education (Nutritionist Provided by Hall County Extension Office) Components include: Food Pyramid, Food Preparation, Cooking with young children, Food Safety, Meal Planning and Shopping on a Budget
Spiritual Life Program (Partners include:
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Trinity Lutheran, St. Paul’s Lutheran and Evangelical Free Church) Components include: St. Stephen’s Listening Ministry, weekend worship service
Chemical Addiction Education (Partners include St. Francis Treatment Center, Central NE Council on Alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Narcotics Anonymous)
In Our Best Interests: Domestic Abuse Education (provided by Crisis Center)
Employment Skills & Job Search Education (Partner is Workforce Development)

6. Life Skills Education / Health Screenings (Partners are Central District Health Department, Women’s Health Services)

The average length of stay in the Hope Harbor's transitional shelter can be 1 to 6 months. Lengths of stay are determined individually according to the number of barriers a client faces in resolving their homelessness. Length is also dependent upon the client's motivation and effort toward resolving their homelessness, this is evaluated by completion of short term and long term goals and objectives they have identified through their case plan. Longer lengths of stay may be appropriate for clients who have issues that require more time to resolve. Length of stay remains dependent upon the client's work on their individual case plan of goals and objectives. Clients meeting the criteria will be referred to other programs within the community that will provide continued support and services after leaving the Hope Harbor's transitional shelter and program.