52
Kids Can Community Center
4860 Q Street, Omaha, NE 68117
www.kidscan.org
@KidsCanOmaha
Robert Patterson
CEO
rpatterson@kidscan.org
+1 (402) 731-6988
Yes
Jesse Wilke, Boyd Jones; Brian Akert, Holland Basham; Paul Cox, CBRE
Our organizational chart is attached at the end of the application and shows Kids Can staff roles and responsibilities.
Kids Can is on track to complete construction of our new community center at 4768 Q Street by December 2022. The new 27,000 SF building will double our space and include two (2) infant rooms for ages 6-weeks to 18-months, four (4) toddler/preschool classrooms for ages 18-months to 5-years old, three (3) classrooms for elementary students age 5 to 13-years old; plus a gymnasium with full court and spectator space, cafeteria, outdoors play-spaces, expanded offices, workrooms, meeting areas, and community room for neighborhood meetings and training sessions. All our programs will double in capacity and we will be hiring 25 full-time equivalent employees to accommodate this increase. With the new center and other program expansions, we will be able to benefit more than 1,400 students a year. Kids Can, formerly known as Social Settlement Association, has been an organizational mainstay of the South Omaha community for 115 years. We look forward to continuing to be a support for our families for many generations to come.
Kids Can Community Athletic Field
1821375.0
1500000.0
Capital project
Kids Can Community Center has an organizational history in Omaha for 115 years. Established in 1908 as Social Settlement Association of Omaha, we rebranded to Kids Can Community Center in 2009 to better reflect our vision and programs. We are nearing the completion of a new facility that will double our capacity. We would like to take this opportunity to further serve our community with additional outdoor recreational space for our families and community partners to learn, play and compete. Our proposal is to build an athletic field at our new community center site at 4768 Q Street in Omaha. This would be the only community field in the historic Social Settlement neighborhood of South Omaha. In addition to being fully used during weekdays (for up to 250 children), it would also be available for evenings and weekends for community partners. The field would be able to support both child and adult sports programming. The proposed space would utilize an artificial turf field for easier maintenance, lighting for early evening events, and accessible restrooms during usage hours. Visitors will also have an adjacent parking lot at our center with an ample amount of stalls. This is the only available space for a field in our surrounding neighborhoods. If built, this would be the only athletic field within a 1.5 mile radius and would complement the offerings at the nearby Hitchcock Park that encompasses baseball, swimming, and skating activities. This funding comes at a pivotal point in our second century of service to South Omaha. With a new community center to open in 2023 that will double our capacity, this field will greatly improve our overall capabilities to benefit our students, their families, and our beloved South Omaha community that we are proud to have been a part of for 115 years.
Kids Can has pre-emptively created a leveled space for a future field on our property at the corner of 46th Avenue and Q Streets. Our ideal timeline would be to begin ground and sub-surface preparation in Spring 2024, followed by field installation in Summer 2024. Simultaneously, we would put in other amenities (lights, electricity, restrooms) as determined by the construction schedule. Barring any labor or supply chain issues, the field could be ready for use by Fall 2024. If there are potential labor or supply chain issues, this timeline could be shifted to early 2025.
1.0
Fundamental Change (i.e., a proposal that will continue to elevate North or South Omaha's presence and perception within the region, significantly improving the lives of area residents through physical development) Transformational (i.e., a proposal that will help energize, recharge, or spur significant and favorable advancements in North or South Omaha's function or appearance)
Quality of Life (i.e., create or enhance natural spaces, mixed uses, parks, safety, etc.) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
This athletic field aligns with two areas. First, Sustainable Community as it will provide a safe, common place for sports and recreational activities. While it will be heavily used internally by Kids Can programming, it will also be open to other community partners, service providers, sports leagues, outdoor education opportunities, and civic uses such as National Night Out. Second, Quality of Life need by providing the safe, mixed-use space at the heart of our surrounding neighborhoods.
Investing in an athletic field on the southeast corner of our property is something we would use for our own programs during the day as well as want to be a community-use field for our neighbors, partnering organizations, and sports leagues on evenings and weekends. There simply can’t be enough safe, recreational space in South Omaha, and we want to take advantage of the land that we have and this opportunity.
An athletic field at Kids Can will energize our South Omaha families and students by providing the significant access to a safe outdoors space in our community. It is a physical enhancement that will allow for partnering organization to provide programming and increase the perception and presence of support for our students.
Utilities 5-6 tradesman Site Work (Earthwork/Grading/Retaining Walls/Field/Landscaping) 8-12 tradesman Electrical 3-4 Tradesman Mechanical 3-4 Tradesman Masonry/Concrete 6-8 Tradesman Field Equipment/Furnishings 3-4 Tradesman
0
28-38
$20-$55/hr
We will seek out South Omaha companies through our contractor to support this project.
Our neighborhood will be more livable with the increased opportunity for families to come to a game at the Community Field. It also builds social cohesion and social capital, keys to development and prosperity.
This athletic field is a built-in safe space for our students and for future program partners. Places like this in the heart of an urban setting, providing intrinsic environmental, aesthetic, and recreational benefits to improve the physical and psychological health of kids and their families. A space like this not only strengthens our community, it makes our neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work.
Through activities on this athletic field, kids in our community will have a chance to learn about teamwork, achievement, and friendship. These developed skills make those individuals more productive at school or eventually at work.
Utilization of our community field by our programs and our partnering organizations.
We will measure the number of partnering organizations and students in our programs that utilize our field.
We anticipate these funds acting as a catalyst to leverage other supporters in our community. It will definitely allow us to partner with new organizations and leverage the ones we currently have to maximize capacity at this community field.
Yes
We anticipate working with other community organizations to utilize the field including The Simple Foundation, PACE, Football For the World, Canopy South, and more.
None at this time.
No
The field would be on the Kids Can property at 4768 Q Street. The athletic field would be on the southeast portion of the land near 46th Avenue and Q Street.
Within one or more QCTs
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
With a project budget from our current building contractor (Boyd Jones).
No
We are requesting approximately 82% of the total budget as a catalyst for co-investment in our project.
Funds will be used to construct a community field as well as leverage further funding from foundations and donors.
Yes
Kids Can has a long history of fiscally sound operations following initial investment as evident through our recently completed capital campaign.
We anticipate exploring all possible funding sources to fulfill this proposal including foundations, corporations, and individuals. Kids Can has a successful fundraising history, most recently raising over $11M for the new community center.
We will wait for ERPA funds to determine other funding sources as needed.
ERPA funds would be used to leverage fundraising for individuals, corporations, and foundations to reach the full amount needed for the project.
Yes, this program has the potential to be scaled down depending on funding availability.
The major components that could be scaled back would be eliminating the concessions/restroom building over the infilled detention pond; however, removing this would limit community benefit for partnering organizations that would utilize this field.
If awarded this funding, we commit to raising 100% of the remaining needed support as well as ongoing operation costs and maintenance for managing this community field.
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
Organizational Chart Plans and detailed descriptions, including pictures and a map of the site location/surrounding area Proposal Budget/Sources and Uses