From the ashes of a fire-damaged mortuary rises a South Omaha workforce development facility 

OMAHA — Four years after a fire ended its run as a funeral home, a South Omaha building has been resurrected as a one-stop service hub for area residents ready to improve their careers and find jobs. 

The structure will come alive Monday as the anchor tenant, Heartland Workforce Solutions, celebrates with a ribbon cutting and open house. 

Heartland used a $600,000 American Rescue Plan Act grant funneled through the City of Omaha to develop programming aimed at connecting people with jobs and growing the region’s workforce.

All services are free. Bilingual “navigators” will be on site to guide participants through the self-service resource center that offers workshops, computers, community meeting and interview rooms and more, said Jennifer Rodriguez, who has led Heartland’s progress at the site.

“Our goal with this new location is to provide easier access to services, ensuring that more people in our community can find employment, enhance their skills and pursue new career paths,” said Rodriguez.

$3.2M renovation

The facility’s landlord and developer, nonprofit Canopy South, had Heartland in mind when it renovated the fire-damaged Good Shepherd Funeral Home at a cost of $3.2 million, said Canopy’s executive director, Cesar Garcia.

The vacant structure that at one time was headed for demolition was donated to Canopy South in 2020. Renovation was funded largely with philanthropic and private funds, Garcia said.

Partnering with Heartland at the new center will be other organizations with similar missions,  providing a gamut of educational and workforce development services, entrepreneurial support and recruiting events.

Also available will be conference and training rooms that community groups can reserve free of charge for education-related meetings, Rodriguez said. Laptop computers are available upon request.

An area is carved out for lease to a coffee shop, as well. Garcia said total development costs doubled from an earlier estimate, as 1,100 square feet of space was added to the facility, a parking area was purchased and renovations, such as an elevator, were done to make the facility fully accessible.

Unusual venture

In addition to the workforce component, the property offers an unusual and new venture for the region, Garcia said.

The actual real estate is to become part of a local initiative to build equity and wealth among low-income communities.

Canopy South plans to invite residents from the surrounding 68107 ZIP code to invest in the modernized commercial building for as little as $10 to $100 a month. As investors, they will build equity and reap dividends of about 6% to 8% through rents paid by agencies and businesses occupying the facility.

Certain conditions come with the ownership opportunity, such as participation in financial and investment classes. 

In explaining the “Community Investment Trust” part of the project, Canopy South says in a document that it hopes to break “the intergenerational cycle of poverty with a coordinated and holistic revitalization of the neighborhood.”

The hope is that the property, just yards from Omaha South High School, will enhance community pride and area property values.

For Heartland Workforce Solutions, which is an American Job Center that serves Douglas, Sarpy and Washington Counties, the South Omaha location is an extension of its main center in North Omaha. That center serves nearly 3,000 visitors monthly. The nonprofit promotes training, employment support and community engagement.