Heart Ministry Center Inc

The Heart Ministry Center partners with Creighton University, Iowa Western Community College, Truhlsen Eye Institute, and volunteer physicians to provide free medical, dental, vision, and mental health services. Medical services include primary care, point-of-care testing, and prescription assistance. The Heart Ministry Center’s dental clinic is the only free dental clinic in Omaha and the services provided include cleanings, fillings, extractions, and x-rays. The vision clinic provides exams, glaucoma screenings, lenses, and frames. The mental health clinic primarily works with the Heart Ministry Center’s Fresh Start participants and Willing Partner program referrals but as time allows, also works with walk-in patients.

The Willing Partner case management program is an individualized assistance program. The objective is to assist clients as they work toward self-sufficiency by focusing on addressing their immediate needs, developing personal goals for success, and moving toward long-term self-sufficiency. Clients work with a navigator numerous times over the course of several weeks/months. During this time, the client works on mutually agreed upon goals and expectations and the navigator provides mutually agreed upon support to help the client move forward to self-sufficiency.

Fresh Start is an intensive 15-week individualized job training/placement program for adult men and women who are unemployed, have exhausted their resources searching for employment, and have no opportunities elsewhere. Each participant works extensively with their program facilitator on developing five core soft skills i.e., consistency, reliability, work ethic, attitude, and communication. The objective of this program is to not only match participants with jobs that earn a livable wage, but to provide them with the necessary job training, life skills, and soft skills needed to be successful inside and outside the workplace.

The Laundromat is a social enterprise that provides a needed service to an underserved community while simultaneously creating jobs for Fresh Start graduates. The Laundromat is the only service the Heart Ministry Center provides where it charges patrons, however, the Heart Ministry Center provides approximately $5,000 a month in free laundry services. There are no specific restrictions on who can receive free laundry services. However, the staff intentionally targets families with school-aged children to help curb truancy as we have learned that lack of clean clothes is one of the leading reasons children skip school.

FRESH Floral is a social enterprise flower shop. FRESH Floral's goals are to provide a good/service to the community, generate revenue for Heart Ministry Center, and create a supportive environment for Fresh Start graduates who need more time to grow personally and/or professionally.