Siena Francis House’s Miracles Program added an Al-Anon Family Program last year, so the loved ones of people battling addiction also could receive support. When one Family Program participant’s loved one chose to leave treatment, she remained in the cohort, saying, “no matter where my family member goes, I have the proper information to support them regardless of their sobriety status.”
The Miracles Treatment Program is a free residential treatment facility in the North Downtown neighborhood in Omaha. It serves 80 people at a time and addresses homelessness, addiction, and mental health. With a $151,179 grant from the City of Omaha’s ARPA Community Grant Program, the Miracle Program added IT infrastructure and developed an Al-Anon chapter to support families, which was quickly accredited and HIPPA compliant.
“With the pandemic exacerbating and accelerating substance use disorders and increasing isolation of those suffering from addiction as well as their family members, it has allowed us to assist with healing all individuals affected,” said Chris Bauer, Chief Advancement Officer. “This opportunity has allowed us to help program participants rebuild their support system within their family and offer family members additional resources to help with their own healing.”
No other treatment program or community group offers this level of family programming at no cost to participants and their families. The family therapy and counseling program has allowed Miracles to increase the impact of the delivery of services by rebuilding family bonds that are often disrupted by addiction and deepening the network of peer-to-peer support for the program participants and their family members.
“I gained first-hand knowledge on how to help support my husband without having to enable him or isolate him even more,” one Al-Anon participant said.
Siena Francis House serves more than 2,500 people a year who are experiencing crisis through homelessness. They have expanded from being an emergency shelter to both a treatment facility, and a long-term housing.
“As Omaha’s only low-barrier emergency shelter, our city depends on Siena Francis House’s effectiveness in mental health crisis services and housing obtainment,” Bauer said. “We are proud to be the only free treatment program in our community that offers counseling and networks of support for families of individuals struggling with addiction.”
ABOUT THIS STORY
The City of Omaha partnered with the Omaha Community Foundation to administer the ARPA Community Grant Program because of the foundation’s work with local nonprofits and awareness of community needs. The grant program focused on providing funding to expand or enhance existing programs in areas of Crisis Intervention & Violence Prevention, and Workforce Development.
The City of Omaha ARPA Community Grant Program awarded $9.6 million to 35 nonprofit organizations. Eligible programs included youth programs such as mentoring, gang prevention and intervention, mental health, crisis response, and assistance to unemployed workers including workforce readiness training, certification, and employment services.
See all City of Omaha ARPA Community Grant Program grant recipients.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP0230 awarded to the City of Omaha by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.