"Rebuild Our Rainbow" Capital Campaign - Goal: $2,600,000
Received: $1,214,000
46%
When Rainbow House was founded by Kathy Hughes in 1986, the farmhouse in which it was located had a total capacity of 12 children. With the addition of crisis care to the shelter in 1992 and the formation of our Child Advocacy Center in 1998, Rainbow House has continued to expand to meet the growing needs of the Mid-Missouri counties we serve. When Rainbow House moved to our current facility in 2004, our shelter’s total capacity increased to 14 children and from there it increased again in 2021 to 18, where it has stayed since. In the last year, however, we have had to turn away 102 children because we simply did not have the capacity to house them. Similarly, since 2017, our Child Advocacy Center has seen a staggering 32% increase in referrals for child abuse victims and the referrals continue to increase exponentially every year. These numbers highlight just how prevalent the need for Rainbow House’s services is in our community.
Once again, we must rise to the occasion and meet the needs of all 11 counties that we serve.
The Rainbow House “Rebuild Our Rainbow” Capital Campaign is our opportunity to do just that. With a fundraising goal of $2,600,000, Rainbow House intends to use this money for a complete renovation and expansion of our facility. The expansion would bring eight new bedrooms to our shelter, expand the living areas and storage space, and add an underground storm shelter. All of this effectively doubling the capacity of our shelter. Additionally, the expansion will also bring new interview, observation, and family waiting rooms to our Child Advocacy Center, allowing them to better serve Mid-Missouri child abuse victims and their families.
Just over $1.2 million of our $2.6 million goal–around 46%–has already been contributed by our committed community partners in this endeavor: Veterans United Home Loans, the Veterans United Foundation, the Nichols Family Foundation, and the Heinkel Foundation. From their generosity, we were able to launch the Capital Campaign with an enormous head start. But, our work is far from over. Throughout the next year, Rainbow House will be kicking our fundraising into high gear with the hope of raising the remainder of our necessary funds by the end of July 2024.
In October 2023 we excitedly watched as the moment we had been waiting for finally arrived! Construction workers arrived early on the morning of October 9th and began breaking ground in our backyard on the new emergency shelter bedroom/basement addition. We watch the daily progress with anticipation and excitement while we continue to work to serve all the children and families in need. Now you can also watch along with us, right here…
As of July 1st, 2022, we are no longer limited to how many tax credits we can issue from Missouri Department of Social Services each year. Moreover, we are pleased to announce that Domestic Violence donation tax credits have been increased from 50 percent tax credit to 70 percent! Any donations we receive after the effective date are eligible for this increased tax credit percentage. This exciting change will no doubt benefit our donors, but also benefit our mission to serve Mid-Missouri children through increased donations from our amazing community.