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2021 has been a banner year…

…BECAUSE OF YOU! Together, we have served countless families, taught hundreds of classes, and provided household items to a myriad of homes. Read on to see the incredible impact YOUR SUPPORT has made in Omaha’s refugee community…. and we’re not done with 2021 yet!

On Saturday, August 7th half a dozen families from Somalia and Ethiopia were flooded out of their apartments. Many had complete losses of furniture and household items. We found out and immediately went to work, asking our supporters to purchase items to replace what was lost. One month later, 100% of every single item the families lost was restored to them! THANK YOU for responding to this need. Each and every one of you is incredible, and we couldn’t ask for a better community than the one we have here in Omaha.

Drew Gerken with The Furniture Project helped transport flood relief items to family apartments. Our partnership with Drew and his organization is invaluable. Thank you, Drew!

One of many loads of items delivered to families.

We are very grateful for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, who installed bunk beds and brought new mattresses for the kids. By working together, we are able to do more, go farther and impact more lives.

Chloe (our amazing Office Manager) had a blast helping open up the toys that were donated.

The animal toys ordered off the Amazon list were a HUGE success! After a month of turmoil caused by flooding, we are happy to see smiles again on faces.

Ever since the Afghanistan crisis unfolded, we have seen an unprecedented spike in donation drop-offs at our Community Donation Center. The generosity of Omaha citizens is second to none! Through our partnership with The Furniture Project and Refugee Empowerment Center, we are working together to make sure that every new family that arrives in Omaha has a home full of quality furniture and household items.

If you’ve dropped off items recently, you’ve probably been greeted by our amazing donation center manager, Eh Htoo! Eh Htoo is in his final year at UNO and is juggling being a full time student and keeping the donation center in tip top shape. The next time you see Eh Htoo, make sure to tell him what a great job he’s doing! In this selfie, Eh Htoo and Drew Gerken are smiling before they get back to moving furniture into the truck for an incoming family.

Eh Htoo keeps the donation center clean and organized!

We can’t mention the donation center without talking about the PHENOMENAL volunteers who sort through items and put them on shelves. THANK YOU to everyone who has given of their time. You are very important and help keep things running smoothly at the donation center!

Our Healthy Home classes are reaching more families than ever in 2021! This summer alone (from June to September) our Family Educators taught 263 in-home classes! We now present a certificate of completion to every family who finishes the program. Check out some pictures of families who have graduated recently!

Starting next week, we will begin teaching classes to Afghan families! Our goal for the next year is to have Family Educators trained from every major ethnic community in Omaha.

In the next few months we will be launching our next set of classes! In partnership with the American Red Cross, we will be offering in-home classes about home and fire safety. Families will receive fire extinguishers, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors upon completion of this program. These classes have the potential to save future lives and we are VERY EXCITED to start them!

In September, Restoring Dignity, Lutheran Family Services, Refugee Empowerment Center and Habitat for Humanity advocated for safe, affordable housing for incoming refugees with Omaha’s City Council. We spent the day in meetings with City Council members, all of whom were very supportive and are excited to welcome over 1,300 new people to Omaha over the next year!

We are ending 2021 with not one home makeover but TWO! Our 39th project will take place on October 30th and Creighton Prep and Marian High School are sponsoring the event.

On November 20th, we will complete our 40th home makeover with Relevant Community Church! We will officially be “over the hill!” It’s going to be a day of celebration, so make sure to watch our social media accounts for fun pictures of that day! To read the family stories, visit our website!

There are MANY WAYS to get involved with Restoring Dignity TODAY! We are a grassroots non-profit organization, and we are only able to serve Omaha’s refugee community because of our strong base of volunteers, donors, furniture dropper-offers, Amazon list purchasers and social media sharers. There’s something for everyone!