At Home Forward Iowa, we work a lot with community leaders across the state to support them in their efforts to help those experiencing homelessness in their communities. It’s always exciting to hear from them about the wonderful things they are doing and the progress they are making in improving homelessness in their area, and this week we want to share about the success happening in Ottumwa!
Ottumwa, like much of Iowa, has a lot more homelessness than Iowans expect. Homelessness tends to be more hidden and doesn’t look like it does in bigger cities, which means it is easy to assume it doesn’t exist. In Ottumwa specifically, homelessness tends to present itself in the form of couch surfing or residing in placarded houses that aren’t fit for habitation. There is currently no shelter in the area, and for a long time, there was not much focus on this crisis.
In recent years, however, there have been renewed efforts. Community leaders in Ottumwa are making great strides in attempting to overcome this problem affecting the lives of so many. WYD Inc. is currently creating an emergency shelter that will serve women and children. With a capacity of more than 75, this is a very encouraging step! They also have plans for a winter warming shelter that will serve men and women. In addition to these shelter plans, WYD Inc. continues to provide street outreach services.
As part of the progress Ottumwa is making, they have recently started conducting the Point-in-Time count. Their first participation was the winter count this past January, and they recently completed the summer count in July!
The summer PiT count occurred in many counties across Iowa on July 28. In the days leading up to the count, Ottumwa leaders prepared by putting together care packs, posting flyers in many locations in Ottumwa, sharing about the count on Facebook, and coordinating with social service organizations. Much of this preparation was to raise awareness of the count so that individuals experiencing homelessness would know to stop by on the day of the count. That day, they were set up in two locations, one at a local park and one at the soup kitchen, and they provided food and care packs to those that came.
In the end, community leaders counted and surveyed about 65 people, all of whom were experiencing homelessness that night. Knowing this number is a key step in raising awareness of the problem, which is an essential part of Ottumwa’s efforts to end homelessness in their city. Ottumwa conducted a very successful and well-planned count, and their participation this summer will help them greatly in future counts. We are very proud of the work these leaders are doing in Ottumwa and are excited to follow them as they continue in this work!
A big thank you to Mary Margaret of WYD Inc. for taking the time to talk to us about the work she and others are doing in Ottumwa!
