Kids Unable to Live at Home
Foster Care & Kinship Family Support
Every day there are thousands of kids in Nebraska in need of a loving foster home. CEDARS provides support to licensed and kinship families who open their homes to a child when they are unable to live safely at home. All that is needed is a loving, stable home, an open heart, and a willingness to reach out to a child in need. If you have ever considered becoming a foster parent, now is the time. Kids are waiting.
CEDARS Pioneers Center
CEDARS Pioneers Center is the area’s only youth emergency shelter and welcomes children and youth in need of a safe place to stay 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Pioneers Center provides short-term care to kids ages 12-18 who may come to CEDARS because of family homelessness, abuse, neglect, violence in the home, interruption of a foster care placement, or other disruptions. A variety of levels of care are offered, from overnight family respite to intensive crisis stabilization.
CEDARS Reception Center
In partnership with law enforcement, CEDARS Reception Center offers a safe, community-based facility to conduct initial assessments and access expanded intake assessments, as well as support any referrals for youth and their families. The center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week with immediate intervention services conducted on-site as needed.
Bridges Transitional Living Programs
CEDARS Bridges Transitional Living Programs offer safe housing and supportive services to youth experiencing homelessness. Youth in the Bridges programs live in scattered site apartments in the community and are supported by a family partner to help the youth gain independent living skills, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, parenting skills, accessing transportation, or caring for a vehicle. Emphasis is placed on continuing education and securing or maintaining employment.
Street Outreach Services and Youth Opportunity Center
CEDARS Street Outreach Services (SOS) provide street-based assistance to runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth in the cities of Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska.
Located in Lincoln, CEDARS Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) is a place where kids can "drop-in" to receive a hot meal, do laundry, follow hygiene routines, complete job and housing applications, receive educational support, develop life and independent living skills, connect to resources, and relax. The YOC, located at 1620 N Street, is open Monday through Thursday noon to 6 p.m., and Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For questions, please call 402-437-8850.