Austin's House

Our goal is to provide high quality shelter and services to all children ages 0-18 in rural northern Nevada who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect, and who do not have an identified relative or family foster care placement available to them. We strive to provide uninterrupted schooling to all school age children who reside with us, to obtain well child, dental, and mental health services very quickly for all residents, and to maintain a warm, calm and nurturing environment.

Austin's House has an experienced 24/7 staff who are well trained in providing trauma informed care to children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. Our Board of Directors and staff are committed to continuously improving the services we provide to children in residence, particularly in the area of enhanced extracurricular activities, daily living skills education, and mental health support. We utilize community members to augment staff capabilities and enhance the support network for children. We have established informal partnerships with medical and dental practices, the education community and other local agencies that serve children.

Austin's House is uniquely capable of providing emergency shelter and compassionate care to children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. Our beautiful 5,300 square foot facility was designed and built specifically for its current purpose -- with 10 individual bedrooms, a large family kitchen, 2 large family rooms, a visitation room and a large outdoor play space.

Austin's House is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to accept placements. We are the ONLY emergency shelter for abused and neglected children in rural northern Nevada.

Austin's House is staffed by an experienced management team and caregivers who are well trained and experienced in trauma informed care. Many staff members have experience with special needs children, which is a growing need for our agency.

Financial and operational oversight is provided by a Board of Directors comprised of community leaders with experience in a wide range of professions, and a personal commitment to improving the welfare of children. Their conservative financial policies are governed by a strong sense of stewardship and responsibility towards donors and the community who built Austin's House.

In 10 years of operation, Austin's House has continuously improved programs and service levels to meet the needs of children in residence. We have established numerous informal partnerships within the community that allow us to respond quickly to medical, emotional, and educational needs, and to deliver services tailored to the needs of each individual child.

Austin's House was built entirely with private donations of cash, materials, and labor to provide emergency shelter and compassionate care to abused and neglected children within their own community. Since opening in late 2007, we have met this goal for hundreds of abused and neglected children ages 0-18.

Austin's House has a strategic goal of enhancing normalcy for all children in residence, which includes focus areas such as extracurricular activities for all children, expanded child specific services such as music lessons or tutoring as needed, and other activities that would be typical in a family setting. Although we have recently made a lot of progress in this area, it remains an area of focus.

Austin's House has a vision of providing more support to family foster homes, and has implemented a program to
provide free respite care to children residing in family foster homes.