Des Moines residents express concerns over ordinance that will impact homeless population

DES MOINES, Iowa — A townhall meeting to address a proposed City of Des Moines ordinance that bans public camping – targeting the city’s homeless residents — was held Wednesday night.

It was a packed house at the DMACC Urban Campus for the townhall event. Community members and local organization leaders discussed the details of Des Moines’ homeless situation Shelter beds are consistently full, low-income housing is very hard to find. Landlords are able to refuse Section 8 vouchers, and the state has been cutting funding for mental health and substance abuse.

The group made banners, signed petitions, and prepared to fill the city council chambers at the final vote.

“Why are you rushing this? We are building a sobering center, there’s almost a million in funds coming to our non-profit network here in Des Moines which is addressing these issues — next year. So why are we rushing this when we don’t have enough services in place?” questioned Monika Owczarski of Des Moines.

The council first passed the ordinance on July 22 ^nd . It passed the last reading of the ordinance with a 5-1 vote on August 5th. The final vote will be during the Des Moines City Council’s meeting next month.

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