As we are wrapping up our “See the person, Not their situation” social media series, we want to highlight a few key takeaways and data.  This series’ purpose has been to urge our followers, volunteers, and donors and greater community to understand the bigger picture of homelessness as well as the individual impact. While we see data commonly portrayed across the news, we wanted to highlight that individuals experiencing homelessness are more than their situation and more than the label...

Have you ever wondered how a Day on the Hill or meeting with legislators works? Earlier this week our Community Engagement Manager, Sierra, participated in the Iowa Homeless Coalition's (IHC) Day on the Hill at our state capital in Des Moines. A Day on the Hill is a scheduled day where a group of people gather at their state or federal congressional building to meet with their legislators and discuss introduced bills and policies.     Ahead of the event, Sierra emailed her legislators and...

Homelessness Funding at Risk There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding federal funding that we would like to address as best as we can. You may have seen that HUD (The Department of Housing and Urban Development) released what is called a NOFO: a notice of funding opportunity. This NOFO has significant programmatic changes that would have serious implications for services provided by Housing First agencies like Willis Dady Homeless Services.    As a Housing First provider, we believe, and...