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Our Communities

A Sheltering Tree community is a group of intentionally-designed apartments where people with and without developmental disabilities live together as peers. Our communities create inclusive spaces where friendships grow and our tenants build relationships that cross social boundaries. We celebrate the unique value of every person and recognize our need for one another in order to transform society.

Community Life

An Innovative Approach to Achieving Meaningful Belonging

Sheltering Tree’s Community Life includes a robust Activity and Enrichment program that offers life-enhancing experiences for tenants. This program is designed to combat the isolation adults with DD can face and enrich their lives through activities and experiences. Through the Activity and Enrichment programming, tenants are provided access to arts, culture, and humanities as well as entertainment and sporting events.

Tenants, and those waiting to become tenants of Sheltering Tree, are encouraged to participate in the Growth Opportunity for Apartment Living Success (GOALS) program, intended to strengthen an individual’s ability to live independently.

GOALS provides engaging, interactive classes on six key topics:

  1. Nebraska RentWise: How to Be a Successful Tenant
  2. Money Management: Real-World Budgeting
  3. People Skills: Social Success
  4. Personal Health and Wellness
  5. Be Safe: Properly Interacting with First Responders
  6. First Aid/CPR

An exciting offshoot of GOALS, Building Healthy Relationships, addresses the critical need for interpersonal and intimacy well-being, especially for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). Research underscores the importance of this focus:

  • People with disabilities are 40% more likely to experience intimate partner violence.
  • 15.5% of individuals with disabilities report a lower perceived level of social support compared to their non-disabled peers.
  • 7.1% of people with DD report feelings of isolation and loneliness.

With challenges to connect, understand, and build reciprocal healthy relationships, this can impact an individual’s health and well-being. This class covers essential topics to foster connection and safety, including:

  • Introduction to Healthy Relationships: Team building and getting to know others
  • Types of Relationships
  • Friendships and Being in a Relationship
  • Attraction, Feelings, and Acts
  • Boundaries
  • Consent
  • Internet, Social Media, and Communication

Through the GOALS program, Sheltering Tree equips individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to form meaningful connections, enhance their social well-being, and thrive in their communities.

Road to Residency

To ensure a Sheltering Tree community is right for you or your loved one, we’ve outlined the process to becoming a tenant.

  1. Make an inquiry via e-mail info@shelteringtreecommunity.org
  2. You will be contacted by phone by Sheltering Tree staff.
  3. Following the phone connection an application will be sent.
  4. Complete and return the Sheltering Tree Community Application and required supporting documents via US mail.
  5. Application is reviewed to determine if eligibility requirements are met by the applicant.
  6. Wait for a vacancy.
  7. Notification of probable vacancy.
  8. Interview with an Independent Nurse/Counselor to receive a Qualifying Determination ($100 fee due at this time)
  9. Name moved to Property Managers Call List.
  10. Property Manager contacts the applicant to complete and submit the HUD Rental Application. This application includes verification of the resident’s income. Expect the approval process to take 30-60 days.
  11. Apply for a subsidized housing voucher program.
  12. When approved, the Property Manager makes arrangements for the tenant to move in.

I’ve made some great friends here!

Upcoming Communities

Holding fast to our organizational values of safety, affordability, community, and self-determination, Sheltering Tree continues to expand its impact. We currently operate three apartment communities: one in Bellevue, one in Benson, and our newest location, Shadow Lake Apartments in Papillion, which opened in December 2023.

Shadow Lake Apartments, comprising two 24-unit buildings, has already become a thriving home for adults with developmental disabilities, providing a safe, secure, and affordable living environment.

We are now turning our focus to our fourth location: Purple Martin Apartments in Elkhorn. This community, designed to replicate the success of Shadow Lake Apartments, will consist of two 24-unit buildings. Construction will begin in early 2025, and the project is scheduled for completion in the Spring 2026.

This expansion is essential to address the housing crisis faced by adults with developmental disabilities. With over 280 individuals currently on our waiting list, the demand for safe, affordable, and community-centered housing has never been greater. Our new apartments will help bridge this gap, offering more individuals the opportunity to live independently and thrive.

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