So, like, the other day in Downtown Ames on Main St., there was this big gathering of over 100 community peeps, both in person and online. The city and county officials were all up in the Ames Public Library presenting this plan to tackle homelessness on Oct. 23, 2024. It was a real call to action moment, you know?
Pa Goldbeck, the assistant city manager, was all like, “Yo, we need your help, guys. This ain’t something one or two groups can fix. We gotta come together as a whole community.” And, honestly, Annie Flowers, the president of Analytic Insights, was dropping some knowledge bombs about how we need to work together consistently to tackle homelessness.
The situation in Story County is pretty dire, though. A needs assessment in 2024 found that there’s a 69% gap in shelter beds for single adults and a whopping 906% shortfall in resources for rapid rehousing. Like, that’s not cool, man. Flowers mentioned that 72% of peeps in deep poverty in the region are right here in Story County. We’re like a hub for the Two Rivers region, apparently. Other counties look to us for leadership, I guess.
You know, it’s wild that neighboring counties don’t even have shelters, so folks end up coming to Ames. Story County is like a hotspot for homelessness in this area, according to Flowers. The plan they came up with had some immediate goals, like getting service providers to work together better, setting up a peer navigator program, and expanding emergency shelter space. They also wanna connect vulnerable peeps to jobs through IowaWORKS.
Flowers was all about those peer navigators, saying they help peeps who are hesitant to accept help. She brought up this cool program in Ohio and Oklahoma City where homeless peeps could earn money through a “wrapping paper” thing while building relationships with the community. Sounds pretty sweet, right?
For the long-term, they wanna create a task force to guide policy and funding, set up day shelters for extreme weather, and build affordable housing by Year 3. Flowers even suggested a mixed-use complex with different types of housing. But some peeps at the meeting were like, “Yo, can we speed this up a bit?” And Flowers was like, “Yeah, sure, we can adjust the timeline if needed.”
Then there’s the whole mental health side of things, which is a big deal. Jannie Heath, a case manager, talked about how untreated mental illness is a major issue among the unhoused. And Flowers pointed out that a lot of homeless peeps use substances to cope. She said stable housing should come first before dealing with mental health or addiction stuff.
Oh, and get this, some homeless peeps are kinda hidden, like families crashing on couches or living in cars. Makes it harder to help them out, you know? Funding is also a big question mark, with peeps wondering if we can keep this plan going without solid federal and state support.
Flowers was like, “We need to get private foundations and businesses on board to keep things going.” But others were worried about who’s gonna be in charge of all this. They don’t wanna leave out the small grassroots groups or peeps with lived experience. The Central Iowa Shelter and Services folks were all about community-driven efforts, not taking over.
The officials at the meeting wanted everyone to read the full report and give feedback. They plan to take their findings to elected officials soon. Sandra King, the Story County director, was all about how this is gonna take some serious planning and action. Everyone was encouraged to stay engaged and work together to tackle this issue.
In the end, Goldbeck was all like, “No matter where we are in the community, we got what it takes to make a difference if we work together.” And honestly, that’s what it’s all about, right? Making a change as a community.
