Leaders in affordable housing pushing for more opportunities

DES MOINES, Iowa — Housing for the homeless and affordable housing in general is something a group is actively working on in central Iowa.

A couple of months ago, WHO 13 News reported about the old Days Inn Hotel off of Merle Hay that was being repurposed by Anawim Housing for living quarters for the homeless. The Monarch Apartments will be ready for residents on January 1, 2025, with construction work well under way.

“There’s a lot of interest. Just because the Monarch Apartments is designed to serve 40 individuals who are leaving homelessness. And so because right now there is such a shortage of housing that best serves the needs for people who are exiting homelessness,” said Cynthia Latcham, President of Anawim Housing.

Latcham is excited for that project and also hopes that local communities and governments are able to help other organizations establish affordable housing options.

“So, it really comes down to city, county, state and federal in order to have a comprehensive plan, along with a plan to look at what we call NIMBYism, which is not in my backyard. And there needs to be a way of looking and identifying quickly what are potential sites that new developments can be located,” said Latcham.

Anawim Housing worked with the Polk County Housing Trust Fund to get some more local dollars invested in the project. The non-profit organization is excited about the model that exists in the metro that some are applying.

“We just need to normalize affordable housing and create it in every new project. So, City of Des Moines for example, is doing a great job of utilizing their economic development incentive agreements, where if developers are building affordable housing projects, they want an incentive. They just need to do a small piece that’s affordable in every project in Des Moines,” said Toby O’Berry, the executive director of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.

O’Berry encourages people interested in seeing what local dollars are available to fund projects like this in the future to go to the organization’s website for more information.

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