Completely KIDS educates and empowers KIDS and families to create a safe, healthy, successful and connected community.
Every day we work for a world where children are the future, family is the foundation and the community is inclusive.
When you support Completely KIDS with your time, talents and dollars, you make a lasting impact on thousands of KIDS and families in our community.
Completely KIDS serves 2,000 children ages 4-17, (and by extension, their families) with a depth of critical services after school and all summer long. We partner with Omaha Public Schools, Archdiocese of Omaha Catholic Schools and several community-based organizations, including homeless shelters to provide a variety of needed programs.
For many living in our community, there are significant barriers to success – success defined as realizing their true potential to make a difference in our community. Living at, or near, poverty level is a hurdle for many families in our community. Access to nutritious food and mental health services is another, as is enjoying experiences that broaden the mind and spark the imagination. The programs provided by Completely KIDS break down these barriers and yield successful contributors to our community.
The KIDS in Completely KIDS programs enjoy a wide range of experiences:
- Service Learning and Field Trips
- Swimming Lessons
- Sporting Events
- Ballet
- Martial Arts
- Robotics
- Outdoor Learning in our Nature Explore Classroom and Gardening Club
- Civic Engagement Opportunities
- More
In our building at 25th and St. Mary’s Avenue and in 16 additional locations in Omaha, Completely KIDS provides curriculum-driven after-school and summer programs where children ages 4-14 enhance their learning, improve their skills, gain homework help, enjoy life experiences and have fun! Program coordinators and assistants assure that the KIDS in our programs are safe, feel valued and have opportunities to tap into their strengths as they grow. These services are provided all summer long at our headquarters building as well.
For years, Completely KIDS programming was offered to KIDS ages 4-14. That all changed when 15-year-old program “alum” Joe Lukowski made a call to CEO Penny Parker to ask how Completely KIDS could be available for kids like him. Intrigued, Penny challenged Joe to envision what a teen program could look like. She involved her executive staff and the Teen Employment Program was born.
Today, teens have a room of their own at the Completely KIDS headquarters building. More than a place to hang out, the Teen Room is an after school and summer respite from the stresses of daily life. The program’s director and support staff organize workshops with professionals across various disciplines. These presenters cover important topics like budgeting, job application and interviews, ACT-prep and more.
Through the Teen Employment Program, juniors and seniors in high school can become paid Junior Support Staff, working alongside Senior Support Staff and program assistants in the school programs. Upon high school graduation or earning a GED, Completely KIDS alums can become paid Senior Support Staff. These employment opportunities give young adults experience working with children and implementing relevant and creative curriculum.
The Completely KIDS mission is to educate and empower KIDS and families to create a safe, healthy, successful and connected community. The three rings in our logo illustrate this three-fold commitment. We know that KIDS will be more successful with family support and by giving all access to critical resources, experiences and connections, our community becomes richer.
We have long provided programs for adults – programs that cover life skills, self-improvement and self-sufficiency. Adults come to the Completely KIDS (CK26) headquarters building to learn more about banking and budgeting, to learn how to sew and cut hair, cook nutritious meals, exercise, do art and have fun. They also come to Completely KIDS for GED, ESL, literacy and citizenship taught by community providers. In short, Completely KIDS is a hub of meaningful and relevant activity for children and families in our community.
Completely KIDS was the first nonprofit in the area to offer weekend food. Years ago, we saw a connection between a child’s hunger and his or her success in school. Consequently, we began sending home bags of food with our kids every weekend. Today, volunteers from the community help prepare more than 855 bags of food per week.
For many families and individuals in our community today, particularly in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of access to mental health services is widespread. In response, we hired a Mental Health Director and staff to provide these services to the children and families in our programs. Today, we work with individuals and in group settings on location and online to provide mental health services to enhance resiliency, impart coping mechanisms and encourage self-care.
Completely KIDS Locations
- Cabrini Parish Center (All Saints)
- Saint Cecilia Cathedral Elementary School
- Completely KIDS Headquarters (CK 26)
- Field Club Elementary
- Forest Station Elementary
- Gifford Park Elementary
- Gomez-Heritage Elementary
- Highland Elementary
- Jackson Elementary
- Liberty Elementary
- R.M. Marrs Magnet Center
- Norris Middle School
- Walnut Hill Elementary School
- Catholic Charities Phoenix House
- Ronald McDonald House Charities Omaha
- Salvation Army
- The Stephen Center