Graettinger, Iowa — The community action agency serving half of our four-county area has announced that they have received a grant and will be expanding their housing program.
The Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. (UDMO) Housing Program, in collaboration with the Iowa Balance of State Continuum of Care, will be awarded nearly 1.5 million dollars over three years.
UDMO officials tell us that for a decade, the UDMO Housing Program has been effectively and efficiently leveraging federal, state, and local funding to provide homelessness prevention and intervention services to residents across northwest and north central Iowa. Since 2013, more than $2 million in rental assistance payments have been distributed across the UDMO Region to assist over 3,200 individuals from nearly 1,300 households.
Housing Program Director Tanya Thelen tells us that during the past six months, UDMO has assisted 340 individuals from 141 households and distributed over $348,000 in rental assistance payments to prevent families from experiencing homelessness.
She says the additional $1.4 million of increased funding from HUD over the next 3 years, “comprises a first-of-its-kind package of resources to help communities provide housing and supportive services to people in unsheltered settings, including in rural areas.”
Thelen says UDMO will have dedicated Housing Program staff based in the Webster and Clay County Outreach offices. She says that Clay and Webster counties have the greatest demonstrated need in UDMO’s region, therefore, having dedicated Housing Program staff based in those counties will increase efficiencies and client access to housing assistance.
You can visit the UDMO Housing Program website for more information: https://www.udmo.com/programsservices/housing/.
