Permanent Housing

Homelessness is a difficult, complex and often-misunderstood situation. It affects people of all ages and family status. The homeless population in Iowa is estimated at 21,000 with two-thirds being women and their children. In 2005 the Continuum of Care in Linn County reported that

• 58% of surveyed homeless households were lead by women,
• 29% of homeless men over 40 were veterans,
• and 10% of the homeless population were 55 years or older.

There is no single face to homelessness. The causes of this economic condition vary with each individual, but there is a successful exit strategy:

• moving people out of homelessness into emergency shelters,
• then transitional housing and
• finally, affordable housing.

The HACAP Permanent Housing Program provides the last step of this process. HACAP manages a number of apartments and single-family dwellings for low-income families with children in the Linn County area. Program guidelines and expectations include:

• Residents must meet the homeless and low-income guidelines set forth by HUD or have a Section 8 Voucher.
• Tenants, living in single-family units, are expected to maintain the property by keeping the yard picked up, mowing, trimming and removing winter ice and snow.
• Regular health and safety inspections of the interior and the exterior of the property are performed. Additional inspections are completed by the Property Manager periodically as necessity demands.
• Tenants are expected to pay their own utilities gas, electricity, and water. Rent is based on 30% of monthly tenant income or a set minimum which ever is more.

The Chronically Homeless Project is schedule to begin later this summer. This program is aimed at bringing adult individuals with a disabling condition who have been continuously homeless in from the cold. This community improvement project focuses on housing first, stablizing an individual's life through safe housing. Subsequently, human services professionals provide a general needs assessment for harm reduction and assist program residents in creating an action plan for returning to society as functioning members of our community.

Continuously homeless means someone:

• who has been living on the street or in an emergency shelter (not in transitional housing)for at least one year, or
• who has had at least four (4) episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years.