Grow Omaha
Non-Profit News

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.

Debate has intensified around the University of Nebraska’s plan to pay $500 million to Clarkson Regional Health in order to assume full ownership of the nonprofit entity Nebraska Medicine. Currently, 50 percent of Nebraska Medicine is owned by the University of Nebraska, and the other 50 percent is owned by Clarkson.

The Nebraska Medicine board announced a new “informational website” aimed at reducing public support for the proposed deal, while the University of Nebraska Medical Center has updated its website with information about the deal framed with its perspective. The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will consider the deal in a special meeting on January 9.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands is recognizing National Mentoring Month this January by raising awareness of the critical role mentors play in the lives of young people. Through simple, consistent activities, such as sharing a meal, going for a walk or trying something different together, mentors can make a powerful, life-changing impact.

This annual campaign encourages adults across the Omaha metro to step forward and volunteer, as more than 100 local youth are currently waiting to be matched with a caring, dependable mentor, and the need has never been more urgent.

The 2026 ICAN Women’s Leadership Conference is set for April 22 at CHI Health Center. At the 33rd event, leaders of all levels will opt In and explore the power of optimism intelligence — the intentional cultivation of human potential rooted in knowledge, hope, purpose and positive energy. The conference, which annually convenes nearly 3,000 attendees from more than 300 local, regional, national and international organizations, is open to people of all genders and identities. Early-bird pricing for in-person registrants is available until February 4. In-person registration closes on April 7.

Recent funding awarded under the Nebraska Convention Center Financing Assistance Act will provide $294,602 to 40 North Omaha organizations including nonprofits like Girls Inc. of Omaha, Omaha CARES and the MAYS Foundation. Chosen projects showcase important historical aspects, help to reduce street and gang violence or assist with small business and entrepreneurship growth in North Omaha.

Omaha native Darya Kaboli-Nejad has launched The Soraya Foundation, a nonprofit that provides scholarships for former collegiate student-athletes to continue on after their athletic careers to higher education—whether that’s law school, med school, graduate programs or PhDs.

This Christmas, Open Door Mission served around 900 meals and gave away more than 800 gifts. More than 350 donors chose to “Adopt a Guest” and give gifts for the men, women and children living on the Open Door Mission campus.

Omaha Community Foundation is accepting applications for the 2026 Community Interest Funds from January 1 to March 1. Local nonprofits and neighborhood groups can apply for funding through five resident-led grant programs:

• African American Unity Fund
• Futuro Latino Fund
• LGBTQIA2S+ Equality Fund
• Refugee Community Grant Fund
• Omaha Neighborhood Grants

Each program has unique eligibility requirements and priority areas. In 2025, these funds awarded $664,994 to 86 organizations.