Collaborating to End Homelessness

2020 Annual Report

2 Together | 2020

Two thousand nineteen was an exciting year filled with many opportunities and challenges that allowed us to continue to grow, learn, and build our expertise as a leader in food insecurity and homelessness in our community. Our Nourish Choice Food Pantry experienced its busiest year on record in our forty-four-year history. We had the opportunity to launch two new initiatives in the healthcare sector with United Healthcare and Catholic Health Initiatives to address homelessness at the front door of our hospitals and emergency rooms. Our Coming Together annual fundraiser experienced its best year ever selling out Lauritzen Gardens and raising a record $120,000. We also launched an advocacy initiative that experienced immediate unanticipated success and has given us the opportunity to ensure our clients’ voices our represented in the areas of food

Letter from the President and CEO:

Mike HornacekPresident and CEO

insecurity, affordable housing, and economic security. All in all, it was a great year that allowed us to finish strong financially, support thousands of families, and seek out new innovative ways to serve those in need.

Our Nourish Program (which includes our Choice Food Pantry, SNAP/WIC Outreach, and Nutrition Education) experienced more traffic than any year in our history. We experienced over 42,000 visits to our facility from 16 counties in Nebraska and Iowa. Even more concerning is the roughly 600% increase we experienced among the aging population and seniors struggling to make ends meet.

We were honored to be chosen by United Healthcare and Catholic Health Initiatives to partner on two new initiatives aimed at ending the revolving door for those experiencing homelessness within the healthcare system. One initiative is modeled after a rapid rehousing intervention and the other initiative is modeled after a crisis engagement initiative. Initial data and feedback show that these initiatives are promising and seeing positive outcomes.

Advocacy was a hallmark of our work in two thousand nineteen. We anticipated stepping slowly into this space and learning from the experts, however, we quickly learned that our voice was missing and needed. Therefore, we were integrally involved in passing several pieces of legislation that positively impact the rights of our vulnerable neighbors. We ensured their voice was represented and heard.

We also continued to strengthen our partnerships and collaborations with Latino Center of the Midlands, Whispering Roots, and Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership to name a few. These partnerships supported our ability to offer nutrition and cooking classes as well as SNAP/WIC outreach throughout the community. We offered these services in after school programs, the Bike Union for foster youth, and many other locations.

Finally, we were challenged with staffing in our homeless programs last year. Our director of ten years moved onto new adventures leaving a large vacancy to fill and as anticipated, resulted in other ripple effects including more staff transition. Happily, we have filled the position with a vary talented and qualifiedindividual who is getting comfortable in their role and ready to lead our homeless programs into the future.

Despite the challenges we still placed 96 individuals experiencing homelessness into permanent housing and 1,272 individuals utilized our crisis engagement services to avoid or end their homelessness which are both increases over 2018.

With all the excitement, we must move forward and embrace a new year. Thank you for your continued support and passion to our mission of preventing and ending homelessness.

4 Together | 2020

Our New Employees

“I believe that every single person in our community deserves a seat at the table. Access to healthy food, a safe and affordable place to call home, and economic security are all human rights, and those rights should be reflected in policy at every level. I feel incredibly privileged to bring the voices of our participants and the stories of the heroes who work at Together to our elected officials and to fight for them every day.”

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Dr. Erin Feichtinger

Dr. Erin Feichtinger, Advocacy and Community Outreach

Azure Wall, Director of Homeless Services

Dr. Erin Feichtinger leads Advocacy and Community Outreach at Together, focusing on the policy areas of affordable housing, food security, and economic stability. She has worked on successful legislation at the state level including expanding tenant protections, and at the local level on Omaha’s Rental Registration and Proactive Inspection Ordinance. Her work includes developing a broad coalition of advocacy partners and empowering community members to use their voice for positive change. Dr. Feichtinger received her Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education and her Ph.D in Transnational Urban History from Loyola University Chicago, and in 2018 was elected to serve on the Metropolitan Community College Board of Governors representing District 2 in northeast Omaha.

Azure Wall completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007, receiving a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Women’s and Gender Studies, with minors in History, English, and LGBT/Sexuality Studies. A nontraditional student, she delayed graduate work to accept a leadership position within the struggling Early Head Start and Head Start program where she was serving as a case manager, working over the course of the next six years to help the agency restore the program to its status as one of the top-performing grantees in its multi-state region. In 2015, Azure shifted her focus to the homeless services field when she was selected to facilitate improvements to MACCH’s coordinated entry implementation and began volunteering with the CoC’s Street Outreach Team. In April 2019, she was selected as Together’s first Director of Homeless Services. She currently sits on the MACCH Coordinated Entry Steering Committee, the MACCH Provider Council, and the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Member Advisory Committee, and co-chairs the MACCH Performance Management Taskforce.

5 Together | 2020

Serving Our Community

Case Management

888 722

5121,409, 101

17,468

96

1,174,251

Utility Payments

Meals

Pounds of Food DistributedRent Payments

Rapid Rehousing

Individuals through Choice Food Pantry

6 Together | 2020

Our Financials

2019Income

55% In-Kind32% Salary + Bene�ts6% Program Participant Assistance2% Administrative + General2% Insurance + Utilities + Auto2% Depreciation1% Advertising

2019Expenses

55% In-Kind 18% Private Foundations12% Corporate6% Government2% Special Events2% Private Donors2% Other2% United Way 1% Religious

7 Together | 2020

Our Board of Directors

Our Leadership Team

Dewey KennisonChairBaird Holm

Doug AlvineVice ChairAlvine Engineering

David Goldner, M.D.SecretaryOmaha Nephrology

Kathy TibkeTreasurerMutual of Omaha

Angela MadathilTravelex

Dan FriedlundRetired CFO

Howard DaubertPhysicians Mutual

Rabbi Brian A. StollerTemple Israel

Tonia HassingerCommunity Volunteer

Eric ArnesonLindsay Corporation

Lyn Wallin ZiegenbeinPeter Kiewit FoundationExecutive Director Emeritus

Polly HarrisUnion Pacific

Nick BrotzelChildren’s Respite Care Center

Kevin Bunjer Wells Fargo

Jason FischerSurreal Media Lab

Doug SutkoFirst National Bank

Sarah CaswellGreen Sky Strategies, LLC

Steve EspositoCRI

Margertha McLean Smart Start Learning Center

Susan Masood Dundee Bank

Mike HornacekPresident & CEO

Kris Hess Vice President of Administration

Azure WallDirector of Homeless Services

Tom HoyVice President of Development

Craig Howell Director of Community Partnerships

Krissy Madej Director of Marketing & Communications

The photo on the cover of the Annual Report represents the Nourish Choice Food Pantry mural. This mural is a product of Completely Kids. Our previous Nutrition Education VISTA, Sarah Smith, had a vision that she proposed to Completely Kids that after school children should work on art to express what they have learned through her “Live Well, Eat Well” classes. Her successor, VISTA Nutrition Education Specialist Jade Jensen, took Sarah’s vision and had it come to life. This is with the help of Baker’s Supermarket sponsoring the mural and professional muralist who worked with the children. The art is the complete work of after school children from Completely Kids expressing what “Live Well, Eat Well” means to them. The art was completed in different composites and the muralist then merged the art pieces together on the southern wall of Together’s Nourish Choice Food Pantry.

Together | 2020

Collaborating to End Homelessness

812 S 24th Street | Omaha, NE 68108 | (402) 345-8047www.togetheromaha.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BECOME A DONOR Contact Tom Hoy Vice President of Development 402.345.8047 THoy@togetheromaha.org www.TogetherOmaha.org