Thriving Thursdays is a weekly, community-driven initiative that creates a welcoming, consistent space for women experiencing housing instability in Council Bluffs. Held every Thursday afternoon at Firefly Inc., Thriving Thursdays is grounded in dignity, trust, and respect for lived experience—meeting women where they are while creating reliable pathways to safety, connection, and change.
The program brings together partners representing healthcare, advocacy, disability access, case management, and shelter and street outreach. Core partners include Firefly Inc, Heartland Family Service, Jennie Edmundson Hospital Foundation (jehfoundation.org), Caring for Our Communities, MICAH House, Together Inc., and All Care Health Center. By intentionally co-locating services, Thriving Thursdays reduces barriers that often prevent unhoused women from accessing care and support.
Rather than requiring women to navigate complex systems on their own, Thriving Thursdays offers an informal, trauma-informed environment where relationships can form and trust can grow. Participants can connect with providers, receive care coordination, and explore next steps at their own pace.
This partnership was created in response to a significant community gap: the lack of a low-barrier shelter for unhoused women in Council Bluffs. While longer-term solutions continue to be pursued, Thriving Thursdays provides consistency, safety, and connection, demonstrating how cross-sector collaboration can create meaningful, human-centered change, one Thursday at a time. Visit jehfoundation.org for more information.