HEAL Omaha

08/22/2026

Today, HEAL Omaha volunteers had the privilege of serving community members at the Magis Clinic Community Health Fair!

The Magis Clinic, a student-run free clinic associated with Creighton University, shares HEAL Omaha’s commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality healthcare to people who face barriers to care. Both organizations believe in meeting people with dignity, building trust and helping develop the next generation of healthcare professionals into thoughtful advocates and agents of change.

We are deeply grateful to the Magis Clinic team for inviting HEAL Omaha to participate and for creating an opportunity for our volunteers to serve alongside Creighton students and other community partners. When organizations with a shared mission come together, we can reach more people and build a healthier, more compassionate Omaha.

08/11/2026

There is an important difference between patient-first care and patient-led care.

Patient-first care asks, “What can we do for you?”

Patient-led care asks, “What matters to you—and how can we walk alongside you?”

The people we serve have often fallen through every gap in every system intended to help them. Many have learned, through painful experience, that institutions may judge them, dismiss them, make decisions for them, or disappear when their lives become complicated.

They do not need us to arrive with all the answers. They need us to be authentic. They need people willing to sit down, listen without judgment, respect their choices, and remain present—even when progress does not follow a timetable or look the way we expected.

Patient-led care does not mean abandoning our clinical knowledge. It means offering that knowledge with humility and allowing each patient’s priorities, experiences, and autonomy to guide the work.

Trust is not a prerequisite for care. Building trust is part of the care.

Every honest conversation, every promise kept, and every moment in which someone feels genuinely heard can begin to repair a person’s relationship with healthcare and other mainstream systems. That renewed trust creates opportunities for connection, treatment, stability, and healing.

Sometimes healing begins with medicine. Often, it begins when someone finally believes: “You see me. You hear me. And you are not giving up on me.”

That is patient-led care. That is street medicine.

07/24/2026

Every day, HEAL Omaha’s teams work on the same streets as law enforcement, firefighters, EMS professionals, outreach workers, and countless others who are committed to serving our community. While we often share the same spaces, we each have very different roles—and those roles matter.

As our street medicine program has grown to six days a week with multiple teams in the field, we’ve found ourselves encountering more emergencies. Most of these situations have nothing to do with why we were there in the first place, but they remind us of an important lesson: good intentions alone are not enough. Sometimes, people trying to help can unintentionally make an emergency scene more difficult for those who are trained and tasked with managing it.

That is why, as part of our upcoming team training, HEAL Omaha volunteers will learn directly from professionals with real-world experience providing emergency services in community settings. We want our teams to understand not only how to help, but when to help—and just as importantly, when the best way to serve is by supporting emergency responders, creating space for them to do their jobs, and avoiding becoming an obstacle.

Street medicine, law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, and outreach are not competing missions. They are complimentary ones. We all share the same ultimate goal: improving public health and safety. The greatest impact happens when each sector understands its unique role, respects the expertise of its partners, and works in coordinated, aligned, and clearly defined ways.

Strong communities are built on strong partnerships. Building cross-sector relationships with mutual trust, open communication, and clearly understood boundaries isn’t just good practice—it’s essential. When every organization brings its unique strengths to the table while respecting the work of others, the people we serve receive the best possible care.

Thank you to our emergency services partners for everything you do. We look forward to learning from you and continuing to build the collaborative relationships that make our community healthier, safer, and stronger.

07/22/2026

07/10/2026

🐾 Our hearts are so full after our HEAL Omaha Dog Bar Fundraiser. 🐾

There truly aren’t enough words to express how grateful we are for everyone who spent part of their day supporting our Pet Fund. It was more than just a fundraiser, it was a day filled with compassion, connection, education, and a shared belief that no one should have to choose between their own well-being and the pet they love.

Because of your incredible generosity through our silent auction, professional pet photos, and drink donations, we raised over $2,000 for the HEAL Omaha Pet Fund! ❤️🐶 Every dollar raised will help keep people and their beloved companions together by providing food, veterinary care, supplies, and other essentials during times of housing instability and crisis.

We want to extend our deepest thanks to: 💙 Every person who donated silent auction items and everyone who placed bids. Your generosity made a tremendous impact.

📸 Angie, for donating your time and incredible talent to capture so many beautiful memories.

🤝 Threshold CoC Street Outreach team and Lone Tree Animal Care for sharing valuable resources and helping educate our community.

🐕 Our vendor Donnette at Cozy Counselor Pets!

🐶 Omaha Dog Bar and Eden, thank you for believing in our mission, helping bring this event to life, and generously opening your space to make it all possible.

Events like this remind us that when a community comes together, incredible things happen. Your kindness doesn’t just raise money, it gives hope.

If you’d still like to support the HEAL Omaha Pet Fund, it’s not too late: ❤️ https://www.healomaha.org/donate

We’re also accepting new or gently used pet supplies, including food, treats, toys, leashes, beds, crates, and other essentials. If you’d like to donate items, please leave a comment or send us a DM.

From all of us at HEAL Omaha and from every person and pet whose lives will be touched by your generosity. We couldn’t do this work without you.

07/02/2026

Welcome to the Team, Lisa!

We are excited to officially welcome Lisa Vukov to HEAL Omaha as our third paid employee!

Lisa brings decades of experience in the homeless services sector, and she hit the ground running on her very first day, learning how we make the magic that is HEAL Omaha happen.

With Lisa joining our team, our paid workforce has increased by 300%—a major milestone for our growing organization and another step toward expanding our impact in the community.

While Lisa’s primary role will be behind the scenes, helping keep our administrative operations running smoothly, she’ll also be doing what nearly every HEAL Omaha employee and volunteer does: spending time in the field serving our patients. We firmly believe there is no substitute for personally knowing the people we serve. Those relationships help us make better decisions, deliver more compassionate care, and ensure our work is always guided by the real needs of our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

Please join us in welcoming Lisa to the HEAL Omaha family. We’re thrilled to have her experience, compassion, and dedication on this journey with us! 💙

06/26/2026

Hey friends tomorrow is the event! We have over 15 silent auction items. The dog bar is 18 and over. Don’t forget to register your dog if you’re going bring them. Can’t wait to see everybody there! 💙🐶

06/24/2026

A Week in Street Medicine

Street medicine as we know it began taking shape in the United States about 30 years ago with a simple but powerful idea: if people cannot access healthcare, healthcare should go to them.

Today, street medicine remains a highly specialized practice. Our teams navigate encampments, wooded areas, sidewalks, shelters, and temporary living spaces. We care for complex medical conditions in environments never designed for healthcare. Yet despite the unique skills, knowledge, and adaptability required, street medicine is not yet recognized as a formal medical specialty.

That means we are constantly learning.

We learn from colleagues across the country who are building and refining this movement alongside us. We learn from nurses, physicians, social workers, outreach workers, and peers who share what works in their communities. Most importantly, we learn every day from the people we serve.

This week at HEAL Omaha, that learning happened under trees, on dirt paths, inside tents, beside treasured pets, and in conversations built on trust. We walked into communities that many never see. We listened. We treated wounds. We checked on chronic illnesses. We connected people to resources. We celebrated small victories and continued relationships that have been built over months and years.

Every encounter teaches us something new about how healthcare can be more accessible, more compassionate, and more effective.

Street medicine is not just about bringing medical care to people experiencing homelessness. It is about meeting people where they are—physically, emotionally, and socially—and allowing those experiences to shape how we serve.

Thirty years into this movement, we are still learning. And because of the people who welcome us into their communities each week, we are getting better every day.

HEAL Omaha — Health Equity in Action League
Meeting people where they are. ❤️🏥

06/20/2026

🐾 ONE WEEK UNTIL HOWLING FOR HEAL! 🐾

Grab your pup (or just yourself!) and join us for an afternoon of community, compassion, and tail wags, all in support of HEAL Omaha's Pet Assistance Fund. 💙

📅 Saturday, June 27
⏰ 11 AM–3 PM

Every dollar raised helps keep people and their pets together during challenging times. Through the Pet Assistance Fund, HEAL Omaha Street Medicine provides rabies vaccines, spay/neuter support, and city licensing for pets belonging to people experiencing homelessness.

For many of our patients, pets are more than companions they're family, comfort, protection, and unconditional love. By supporting this fundraiser, you're helping remove barriers that can keep pets and their people from accessing shelter and housing opportunities.

🐶 Event Highlights:
• Specialty HEAL Omaha drink
• Vendor & community information booths
• Dog photos (suggested donation)
• Silent auction

🐾 Bringing your dog?
Dogs are $15, and a second dog is 50% off! Please make sure all dogs are up-to-date on vaccinations and registered through Omaha Dog Bar before attending:
https://www.omahadogbar.com/before-you-visit

💙 Coming without a dog? Admission is FREE!

Help us care for our neighbors and their beloved pets one wagging tail, one act of kindness, and one community at a time.

06/15/2026

One of the greatest strengths of an all-volunteer team is that everyone who shows up is there because the work is their true passion. 💙

When a group is bound by that kind of deep alignment, something incredible happens. The synergy it creates doesn't just fuel our daily efforts, it forms the foundational bedrock of the trusted, lasting relationships we’ve been able to build with those we serve in our community.

We are incredibly proud of our Street Medicine Team and deeply grateful for the heart, expertise, and dedication they bring to the pavement every single day.