Homelessness in Linn County

Judy Stoffel from United Way of East Central Iowa, speaks about homelessness and what United Way and the partner agencies are doing to address this issue in our area.

Last year in Linn County 5,500 individuals were served by homeless services in our community. This is actually an increase of over 37% within the last 5 years. Individuals that are homeless or near homeless maybe particularly challenged with finding the right match of service for them in our community. While our system has a variety of providers that serve specialized needs, it could be hard for them to find that specific match that's right for them based on their household make up and needs such as substance abuse or drug abuse or mental health needs.

United Way – 211 is a resource to individuals who are near homeless or homeless in order to enter into identifying what service might be the right match for them. As a community of service providers, what we are looking at developing is a stronger emphasis of preventing homelessness, keeping individuals out of shelter and stable in the community. Our second area of focus is to provide services to individuals who do need shelter or transitional housing with an emphasis on trying to quickly help them get permanent housing and stable back in the community. Lastly, the providers are focused on providing support to individuals so that they can maintain their independence in the community in their own permanent housing.

The overall goal is for us to really be client centered and help individuals be stable. We can do that the most cost effectively by helping individuals stay in their own home and stay out of shelter.