OMAHA, NEB. (May 1, 2008)—The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has awarded $450,000 in Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Funds (NAHTF) to Open Door Mission to build a 62,300 sq. ft. addition. The project will create five to ten permanent full- and part-time jobs and result in about 35-50 construction-related jobs.
In addition to the NAHTF money, $6,211,905 in CRANE low-income housing tax credit is being invested through the Collaborative Resource Allocation in Nebraska (CRANE) process. The project also includes $450,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, $1.2 million tax increment financing, $250,000 HOME funding from the city of Omaha, and $2,826,135 donations from Open Door Mission.
The nearly $11.4 million Rebuilding Lives project will feature 82 fully-furnished apartments for homeless women, and single mothers and their families. The addition also will feature classrooms and meeting areas to provide education and support services in life and parenting skills, nutrition classes, and courses on anger management and earning the graduate equivalent degree, among other offerings. There will be house computer labs, child care facilities, counseling rooms, common lounge areas, and a “Bright Space” for working with children to improve cognitive development. There will be ample space for professionals to continue volunteering time and talents and an expanded service learning site for college students in training. Currently Open Door Mission works with faculty and students from six local colleges. An expanded medical clinic is expected to reduce the number of trips to area hospital’s emergency rooms.
Help the Homeless, Inc., a 501(c)3 is the project’s sponsor, and was created as an exclusive support organization for the Rescue Mission d/b/a Open Door Mission. The project’s owner, Help the Homeless of the Metro, LLC, a limited liability company, has enlisted an investor member, Midwest Housing Equity Group, with a 99.99 percent interest. Help the Homeless, Inc., serves as the managing member with a .01 percent interest.
The project was developed during the past couple years by a team that included Alley Poyner Architecture, J. Development Company, Midwest Housing Equity Group, and Open Door Mission.
Open Door Mission has provided shelter for Omaha’s homeless and near homeless population since 1954, and supportive programs and services since 1960, recognizing early on that residents’ needs were more complex than just basic shelter.
For project information, contact James Thele with the city of Omaha at 402-444-5206.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Patty Wood at 800-426-6505, 402-471-1559, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it