Grow Omaha
Non-Profit News

Food Bank for the Heartland is closed while the organization moves into its recently completed 105,000 sq. ft. office and warehouse building on the northeast corner of 84th & L Streets. The food bank will officially open at the location on February 2.

Heartland Bike Share announced its statistics from 2025. The nonprofit bicycle sharing organization saw 71,990 trips on its bikes, totaling 292,371 miles and an estimated 277,317 pounds of carbon offset. HBS’ Reduced Cost Membership Program, which includes the Library Pass Program, provided a new high of 5,500 trips. The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge station was the most used in 2025.

Avenue Scholars hosted an Internship Fair today, January 29, at the Salvation Army Kroc Center. More than 200 high school juniors from 13 metro-area high schools met with representatives from 23 local businesses — including Children’s Nebraska, Baxter Auto and Pinnacle Bank — which offer paid internship opportunities. Beginning in high school and extending through career entry, the Omaha nonprofit Avenue Scholars works to place participating Omaha youth in high-wage, high-demand careers.

Canopy South was named the recipient of Front Porch Investments’ 2025 Greenlining Fund grant award. This award will support Canopy South’s efforts to promote homeownership in South Omaha through down payment assistance for homebuyers purchasing newly constructed and rehabilitated single-family homes. The Greenlining Fund is led by a Community Advisory Committee, which is currently accepting applications for new members with lived experience in formerly redlined neighborhoods of north and South Omaha and Council Bluffs/Carter Lake who want to help guide the Greenlining Fund’s priorities, investments, and activities.

An upcoming episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild will shine a national spotlight on Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and its decades-long commitment to conserving one of the world’s most endangered amphibians, the Puerto Rican crested toad.

After 25 years of operation, Habitat for Humanity of Omaha is selling both its ReStore locations to a local thrift-store operator. The nonprofit stores sell new and used building materials, home décor and appliances at discounted prices with proceeds helping pay for new affordable houses. The ReStores will remain open, and employees have the opportunity to keep their jobs. The ReStores are located at 10910 Emmet Street and 1003 South 24th Street. Selling the stores allows Habitat to focus solely on Omaha’s growing housing shortage.

This year’s Shine the Light on Hunger Campaign raised a record-breaking $4,949,864 and collected 216,237 pounds of nonperishable food to provide more than 15 million meals for neighbors in need. The annual campaign has invited community members to donate nonperishable food items to orange bins at participating locations around town for the past 19 years. Donations go to Food Back for the Heartland.

The Omaha Community Playhouse is hosting a free Community Resource Fair on Saturday, January 24, from 12 to 3 p.m. at 6915 Cass Street. The event will bring together local organizations to provide housing, legal and family support resources for the community. Hosted in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, the in-person event will feature a Transfer-on-Death Deed (TODD) Clinic, designed to help homeowners learn how to protect their homes and plan for the future.

The Hillside Foundation is hosting its first Gala at The Venue at Highlander on February 27. The nonprofit organization focuses on programs and education that promote and implement the benefits of composting for schools, food growers and people and organizations that may otherwise not be able to afford recycling and composting services. The night will celebrate local climate wins while funding projects that grow Omaha’s circular food system.

Nonprofit Association of the Midlands released a report titled, “Economic Impact of Nonprofits in Nebraska.” Report highlights include some impressive stats, like how 5,483 501(c) organizations operate and filed 2023 IRS Form 990 in Nebraska, or that $23.1 billion in revenue was generated by Nebraska nonprofits in 2023. Read the full report here.

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium opened the Bill and Berniece Grewcock Animal Hospital. The 32,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility replaces a 30-year-old hospital, with enhancements to support the zoo’s more than 39,000 animals and includes the zoo’s first CT scanner. With this facility, Henry Doorly Zoo joins a zoological medicine residency program through the American College of Zoological Medicine, placing it among only 32 institutions nationwide.

Crews demolished a downtown motel this week to make way for a unique project led by nonprofits. Hoppe Development is partnering with a participant of Spark CDI’s co-Development Apprenticeship program, Donell Brown, to build a 73-unit, mixed-income, senior housing community with more than half of the units affordable to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income. The request for proposal to develop the site at 2211 Douglas Street was originally issued by Front Porch Investments in collaboration with Together Omaha.

Omaha-based nonprofit Partners for Livable Omaha completed a year of work on its OurStory Small Houses program, which included piloting an architectural internship program with Actual Architecture Co. and the UNL College of Architecture and hosting a design exhibition, funded by a 2025 AARP Community Challenge grant and others. Last year, construction began on the project’s two aging-ready small homes in the Benson-Country Club area.

The Durham Museum is offering free admission on Monday, January 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The day will feature a range of family-friendly activities and special guests including Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr.