Willis Dady asks for public’s help funding shelter expansion

CEDAR RAPIDS - Willis Dady Emergency Shelter officials are well on their way to expanding their Cedar Rapids facility after having raised more than two-thirds of the money the project requires.

More than $2 million has been raised to expand the shelter, located at 1247 Fourth Ave. SE, it was announced during an event Wednesday at Westminster Presbyterian Church attended by about 50 people.

The goal is $3 million and the organization is now asking for the public to pick up where private donations left off as part of the agency's first-ever capital campaign.

Of the $2,041,179 raised to date, major donors include CRST and AEGON Transamerica Foundation, as well as a $1 million match from the Hall-Perrine Foundation and a $25,000 donation from Willis Dady staff. Several other individual donors have contributed.

The expansion, to be built on the back of the existing shelter, would add 15,000 square feet to the existing 31,000-square-foot facility.

One of the main reasons the shelter decided to take on the expansion project is to accommodate individuals with physical disabilities. The existing shelter is not wheelchair accessible.

'When you're an agency that's the last chance and you're saying no to people because they have a physical disability, it's just not right,” said Phoebe Trepp, executive director of Willis Dady Emergency Shelter.

The expansion would also double the capacity for family shelter rooms, bringing the total to eight units, and open up a room for men who work third shift jobs so they have a place to sleep during the day.

'We know that men, upon becoming homeless, have had to choose between a job and a safe place to lay their heads,” Trepp said. 'Some of them choose to sleep in their cars or a park so they can maintain employment.”

Willis Dady is also looking to build four single-occupancy rental units, with rent payments costing about 30 percent of an individual's income. These apartment units would provide more options in Linn County for longer-term supportive housing, officials said. Willis Dady, which also has homeless prevention services and case management, works with individuals to address the causes and patterns of homelessness. Having long-term units available allows an individual more time to become independent and be less likely to fall back into homelessness, Trepp said.

'We really want to address homelessness across the whole continuum of need,” she said. 'We'll definitely have enough people to keep those units occupied.

James Brown, a former Willis Dady client, said he used Willis Dady's services when he first moved to Cedar Rapids in 2015 to be closer to his children after a divorce.

'I was in a bad place mentally, didn't feel well about myself,” he said. 'They helped me with everything I needed to get on my feet. They gave me hope when I had started giving up. Once I saw the love and respect they have for people still, it gave me something to fight with?”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who attended the event, said he is glad to see local residents, businesses and not-for-profits support the project.

'Cedar Rapids has been a very giving city in the last year,” he said. 'The corporations in our town have been very gracious. This Willis Dady project will be another in a long list of successful building projects.”

Trepp said construction plans are to be formulated as soon as the fundraising goal is hit.

'When people feel at home, and they feel like they have a safe place, they'll invest in other parts of their lives: their health, children, families and the wider community,” Trepp said. 'All of that comes when you know this is your home, your community, versus when you're always in transition.”

Those looking to donate can visit willisdady.org or call (319) 362-7555.

l Comments: (319) 368-8516; makayla.tendall@thegazette.com