Shelter House hopes to expand veteran-hiring partnerships with grant

By Hayley Bruce, The Gazette

IOWA CITY - The Shelter House in Iowa City wants to increase the number of local businesses it works with to help employ homeless veterans in the area.

And with the recent renewal of a $105,425 federal grant and more space to house such clients, Executive Director Crissy Canganelli thinks the facility will be able to persuade more businesses to employ people through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

Canganelli said 23 of last year's 49 participants have been placed into jobs, while many others are still in the program. Veterans in the reintegration program earn an average wage of $12.18 an hour, she said.

“It takes time to really develop the relationship with employers in our community and get the word out to the private and public sector and other non-profits,” Canganelli said. “We have people here who are interested in work and looking for work, and we're trying to provide education to employers to demystify some of the preconceived notions that people have” about hiring veterans.

Last year the Shelter House partnered with 15 area businesses to employ veterans through the program. Canganelli said shelter officials expect to serve even more participants in the coming year because their new facility has 70 beds in all, with 14 set aside specifically for veterans.

Kelli Hugo, vocational coordinator for the reintegration program, said getting the word out to employers about the benefits and showing them that veterans have exceptional skills to offer is half the battle.

“They all do have skills from the military that are unmatchable, but they all also know their expectations,” Hugo said. “They have a good work ethic, they know to work hard and to be dependable - there's just a notable difference in a veteran employment versus a non-veteran.”

Hugo said businesses that hire veterans are also eligible for state and federal tax incentives. And if that's not enough to attract an employer to the program, Hugo said, the Shelter House can offer to pay a veteran's salary for the first 30 days of employment at a business, with hopes the employer will turn around and hire the veteran.

And while officials with the Shelter House said they expect the recently renewed grant to help them serve more veterans over the next year, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, said he thinks the federal government can do more to make sure veterans know about the assistance available to them.

“We've got a budget crunch in this country right now, but we've got to prioritize - and it seems to me that if these folks are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, we better put veterans first in terms of our  budget,” he said after a tour of the Shelter House last week. “Because they deserve it, I think, more than just about any other group in America.”