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.