Children come to Rainbow House for a variety of reasons. Our Emergency Shelter takes children who are homeless, are victims of trauma or abuse/neglect, or who are placed here by their families to keep the children safe and cared for while the family recovers from a crisis.
Children come to the Child Advocacy Center for interviews with our forensic interviewers and a multidisciplinary team to share their stories of severe and sexual child abuse.
Most of the children in the Emergency Children’s Shelter come from Boone County. The children and families who come to the Regional Child Advocacy Center come from 11 counties. These counties are Boone, Cole, Cooper, Audrain, Adair, Shelby, Howard, Monroe, Callaway and Randolph.
The average stay for a child is about 2 weeks. Some children are here for only an hour while some may stay for several months. Once the child is safe and stability is found the child moves on to a more permanent place.
In 2018 in our programs Rainbow House served 579 local children. The total of bed nights was 2127. 2019 is so far showing no less population than last year, if not more.
Our highly trained staff treat the children like family while keeping them safe and helping them to heal. Every moment is a teaching moment for our staff and volunteers who work with these children. The shelter is homelike and comfortable with lots of play, good hot meals and snacks served family style, as well as love and affection.
Rainbow House children continue to attend the school they are already enrolled in. This practice minimizes stress on the children and helps with their adjustment. To preserve the privacy of the children we have unmarked vans to transport them to their various schools. Morning and afternoon school pick up and delivery requires extra staff and funds for our vans.
The emergency shelter and child advocacy center serve children from birth to 18. Our homeless youth outreach program serves youth 16-21.
Our staff conducts parenting classes, therapy, assists families in finding resources for basic living in the community, does home visits, helps people we work with to find basic needs, and works closely with other community resources to assist and support families in crisis.
Visit our Get Involved and our Giving pages to learn more about our needs and how you can contribute. We offer opportunities to give financially, with goods and services, or to volunteer.