Crittenton Center

Category: Human Services


This Year's Project: Youth Emergency Shelter Blanket Drive


About Our Organization

 

SHELTERING EDUCATING EMPOWERING

children, teens, and families

 

Crittenton Center has been serving children, teens, and families in Siouxland for 128 years, making it one of Sioux City's oldest nonprofits.

 

With education at the core of their programs, your support will help SHELTER teens in our foster care program, EDUCATE little ones in our preschool and childcare centers, and EMPOWER parents to learn how they can best interact and bond with their children!

 



Current Project: Youth Emergency Shelter Blanket Drive




Crittenton Center's Transitional Therapeutic Home (TTH) provides emergency placement for Iowa children ages 0-18 who can no longer safely remain in their homes due to abuse and/or neglect. These children may be brought in by the police or referred by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services or the Iowa Juvenile Court System.

Upon arrival, children are met with compassionate and understanding Crittenton Center employees who provide crisis intervention services, therapeutic supervised family visitation, aftercare case coordination, on-site education by certified teachers, medical care, mental health and substance use services, and other needed supportive services. Families of these children may also receive crisis intervention services, referral services, and supportive care during this challenging time. Unfortunately, many youth in our care do not have family support, so our employees are trained to work with foster families to understand our children's complex needs to discharge the youth to a foster home successfully.

Crittenton’s TTH housed 149 youth in 2022 and 168 youth in 2023 from across Iowa. 105 of these youth were from Woodbury County. The average length of stay is 86 days. While waiting for permanent placement, the youth at TTH need more than just a place to live; they often need extensive care and treatment due to past trauma and life events.  

Funding through Siouxland's Big Give will be allocated towards comforting each youth with a new blanket of their own. Having a comfort, something that belongs to just them, that they get to keep no matter where they go, something with their name on it, is so special. Providing a blanket to a child entering foster care is just one way to make a big impact!

Additional funds may be used to purchase bedding and towels for youth residing at TTH. Bedding and towels are washed multiple times per week, and the frequent use of these items requires them to be frequently replaced.



Past Projects

  • Books for School


    Project Details

    Crittenton Center started our own school program for the Emergency Shelter in 2022. We teach all ages, with kids at different levels of development. A way to reach each kid is through books. We use books to calm busy minds, and allows them to escape from their daily lives, if even for a little while. Books spur creativity, critical thinking, and coping skills.  We are looking to purchase book series for our preteen and teen kids to read throughout the school year. This includes the classics and new series such as the Chronicles of Narnia, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl and many more. Through the money raised we can better serve our homeless children and encourage the creativity and healing process through literature. 



  • Supporting Siouxland


    Project Details

    With your help, Crittenton Center and continue their work and efforts in child abuse prevention and providing essential education and support to those who need it most.

     

    Offering several different programs aiming at preventing child abuse, educating children, teens, and families, and providing quality, affordable childcare and preschool, Crittenton Center has remained open throughout the duration of the pandemic and continues to serve at-risk families.

     

    Crittenton Center has also been collaborating with community partners to identify areas of need and how the agency can reimagine its Green Avenue facility to best serve the Siouxland community.

     



  • Education Changes Lives


    Project Details

     

    We had just started working with an illiterate, single, pregnant 17 year-old, girl named Emily who lived with her father.

     

    One day Emily was called to the hospital because her father was injured at work. Not understanding what was going on, she called her case worker for support. It was explained to her that her father was not going to recover, and upon her father’s death, she also lost his financial support.

     

    We helped her through one-on-one education to learn how to care for her child and connected her with the resources needed to keep her moving forward. Three years later, Emily has a healthy baby, is involved in her church, and continues to make great strides in Crittenton Center's in-home parenting education program.

     



  • Home Away from Home


    Project Details

    Sasha’s story to find a permanent home:

    Sasha was twelve years old when she was first admitted to Crittenton Center’s Emergency Shelter by the Department of Human Services (DHS) when they discovered that Sasha had been taking care of her four younger siblings while her mother was experimenting with illegal drugs in their presence.

    Sasha was sent to several foster homes where she lasted about six months, before returning to the Shelter.  Soon, Crittenton Shelter and her DHS worker were the only constants in her life. Sasha had a total of 12 stays at the Shelter before “aging out” of the system when she turned 18, at which time, she moved to Ohio with her family.

    While in Ohio, Sasha realized her family had not changed; they were still involved in drugs and prostitution. She begged to come back to Crittenton Center.  Sasha’s life started out rough, but as she matured, she had learned the difference between right and wrong.  

    Because Sasha was over 18, she qualified for Crittenton Center’s Supervised Apartment Living Program (SAL) which provides life-skills training, support and mentoring. With the help of her SAL worker, Sasha got her own apartment and graduated from high school at the age of 19. Crittenton Center hosted her graduation party!  Sasha then registered for classes at Western Iowa Tech Community College. 

    By this time, Sasha was well-prepared to venture out on her own, having received unconditional support and life-skills training, during her time at the Shelter and the SAL program.

     

    Background information:

    Our Emergency Shelter is the only one in Northwest Iowa and we welcome kids from all over Iowa from infancy to age 17 who require a safe environment.  The Shelter serves over 200 children annually who are there for a variety of reasons, including abuse and neglect, family problems, parents who have been arrested, homes that are red tagged, loss of foster care placement, ungovernable behavior, and some children are simply left here.

    The Supervised Apartment Living (SAL) is a foster care program for teens aged 16 ½ until completion of their high school diploma/High School Equivalency Test (HiSet). They learn to live independently, and they are empowered to lead self-sufficient lives. 

    Crittenton Center seeks funding to continue to serve children who need emergency shelter and life-skills training. Please help us provide A Home Away from Home for children like Sasha who need a safe place to call home. 

    Thank you for your consideration.

     



  • Sweet Dreams


    Project Details

    Crittenton Center seeks funding to renovate and upgrade Shelter’s bedrooms for the children, so they can sleep in a new, refreshing, and warm environment. Please help us provide Sweet Dreams for the children by funding new carpet, paint, bedding and furniture. Thank you!

    Crittenton’s Emergency Shelter for Children Story “Tom”:
    A disabled, homeless 17-year-old boy came to us bitten head-to-toe by bed bugs. It was determined that he couldn’t read, and testing showed that Tom had learning difficulties. Shelter Staff discovered that he was eligible for Social Security benefits, but Tom allowed them to lapse because he couldn’t read the documents. They worked with him to get his benefits re-established and found out he had $5,000 worth of back-benefits owed to him! Shelter Staff helped him find an apartment, get furnishings and set him up with someone at The Center for Siouxland to help him manage his money. He was so grateful for all Crittenton Center Staff efforts. Tom’s now on the path to success.

    Crittenton Center has advocated for children, individuals and families in Siouxland for over one hundred twenty years. Formerly, The Florence Crittenton Home of Sioux City, IA, the agency was originally organized as a Babies Home Society in 1895 providing maternity care and adoption services.

    Today’s Crittenton Center programs are multi-disciplinary, family oriented, and designed to give families support to care for and nurture their children so they are healthy, safe, develop appropriately and are successful in life.







$0 Raised of $2,500 goal
$0 $2,500
0 Donors

$2,500.00

Matching Funds Donated by

Crittenton Center Board of Directors
Legal Name: Florence Crittenton Home of Sioux City, IA

600 4th Street - Suite 100
Sioux City, IA 51101

 
(712) 255-4321

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