Project Harmony’s goal is to protect and support children and works to end child abuse and neglect.  They work with professionals to create programs that will help with healing and empowering individuals who have been affected by abuse and are striving to end the cycle. As the project says, “anyone can have the opportunity to help a child — to help that child find the courage to use their voice — and to see the vision of what potential that child can have.”

Founded in 1996, Project Harmony has become one of the largest child advocacy centers in the country. As explained by the project, “the vision was to not only create an integrated response system but also to develop a single child-friendly location where all the professionals would come together to serve each child.” The project has more than 200 professionals that work together towards helping children and families recover from abuse. In the early 2000s, they worked to establish a network of child advocacy centers in Nebraska and Iowa that would work together, and now are able to protect eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

They work hand-in-hand with the Omaha Police Department and Child Protective Services, which works on-site at Project Harmony, and provide both responses to abuse and prevention services. Project Harmony is also responsible for working with new and emerging centers, educating legislators, and training professionals in child abuse prevention.

Project Harmony’s services include:

• Forensic Interviews
• Medical Exams
• Family Advocacy
• Therapy and Trauma-informed Mental Health Services

Project Harmony also specializes in Multidisciplinary Team Coordination, focusing on:

• Impact from Infancy, a program working with families in the juvenile court or child welfare systems with children that are newborn to five years of age
• Missing Youth Services, looking for children inside and outside the child welfare system
• Anti-Trafficking Services

The project also provides over 400 different training every year for professionals in the area, from educators to medical professionals to law enforcement. You can go to their training classes at the Project Harmony campus, where they host different training every week. You can go to their website at projectharmony.com/training/calendar to see their list of different training.

You can also request that they come to your organization and train a group of people, where you can pick from any of their available trainings. You can go to projectharmony.com/training/request-training to request a speaker.

The Papillion Area Lions Club will be hosting Hops for Harmony, a beer festival whose proceeds will be used to benefit Project Harmony, on June 7th from 5:30pm-8:30pm at Werner Park. Tickets are $45 in advance, or $55 on the day of the event, and must be at least tw21 to attend. Tickets can be purchased through Project Harmony at their website,  through participating HyVees, or through the Papillion Area Lions Club.

If you would like to donate to Project Harmony, you can go to their website at projectharmony.com/donate. You can also donate items from their wish list, which range from clothing to items for therapy or toys. They ask that all items are new and unused, and dropped off by appointment or shipped directly to them at 11949 Q Street, Omaha, NE, 69137. If you have questions about donating, you can call them at 531-301-5002.

To volunteer at Project Harmony, you can go to their website at projectharmony.com/volunteer-inquiry-form, or email ghogan@projectharmony.com. You can also consider doing a service project, such as making blankets or coping care packages; host a dinner for their Wednesday support groups, feeding at least twenty-five (25) people;  host a donation drive for items they have on their wish lists; sponsor a fundraising event; or host a speaker for an event. 

For more information about Project Harmony, you can go to their website at projectharmony.com. You can contact them via phone at 402-595-1326. You can also check out their Facebook at Project Harmony, their Instagram @projectharmony, or their Twitter @ProjectHarmony2.