Articles Tagged: Waypoint

After a decade at Waypoint, where she served as housing services director, J’nae Peterman taking a deep dive to find unified solutions for homelessness that have vexed countless nonprofits and municipalities across the country.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird said the state will provide $5.5 million in one-time funding to keep services available for Iowa crime victims as federal cuts loom.

Waypoint is looking to convert its now-closed emergency shelter, the Madge Phillips Center, in southeast Cedar Rapids into a “housing first” facility. It is planned to add new affordable rental units with community services in an effort to move toward ending homelessness.

This year’s winter “Point in Time” count Jan. 24 yielded mixed results in Linn and Johnson counties that showed perhaps the start of changing trends for both.

As the number of people living unsheltered continues to set records in Linn County, a chronically homeless population in need of different housing interventions is becoming more visible.

Renan Machado says as an advocate he may be a “punching bag” some days but doesn’t take it personally. His job is to support family and friends of a loved one lost in a violent crime.

Following a record unsheltered summer count in 2022, the trend continues upward for winter, too.

State and local agencies report an increase in demand for heating and energy assistance in recent years, and they’re bracing for what are expected to be the highest heating costs households have seen in 25 years.

As Cedar Rapids nonprofits and homeless residents prepare for winter, some advocates fear the situation will get worse before it gets better.

Waypoint Housing Services is seeing large increase in those needing housing and emergency shelter. This last fiscal year went from serving around 3,000 to over 13,000.

On the heels of a state report on lives lost to domestic violence in 2022, victim advocates say a measure on the ballot Nov. 8 will make it harder to enact gun laws in Iowa to keep firearms out of the hands of abusers.

The county-hosted panel discussion on Thursday highlighted the kind of work that would better prepare the community and its residents for future disasters. In particular, panelists said immigrant and refugee populations, elderly residents and smaller communities are the most vulnerable.

The Safer Communities Act — a bipartisan gun safety bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 25 — closed what was known as the “boyfriend loophole” on a national level, but gaps still in exist in Iowa that keep the loophole open in most cases, experts say.

Quentin Blazicek is one of four Cedar Rapids fathers who enrolled last fall in the Caring Dads program, a 17-week support group offered by Waypoint for dads who want to improve their relationships with their children to end or avoid controlling, abusive or neglectful behavior.

With increased demand and funding cuts, the nonprofit’s I Believe camaign is more critical than ever this year to keep services going for the homeless, poor, victims of domestic violence and violent crime.