• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Human Interest / Advocates prepare 10-year plan to end homelessness in Des Moines

Advocates prepare 10-year plan to end homelessness in Des Moines

October 31, 2007 By admin

Advocates for the homeless held a summit in Des Moines Tuesday to begin work on a 10-year plan they hope will wipe out homelessness in Iowa’s capital city. Des Moines’ mayor, Frank Cownie, co-chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. Cownie says the city faces the challenge of finding permanent places to live for those who face the most difficulties.

Cownie says, "We want to go after the ones who are in most jeopardy, the ones who are most homeless, most mentally ill, most in need of services, who are chronically on that list let’s say for a year or more." He estimates that between 2,000 and 5,000 people are homeless in Des Moines, most of them near downtown. Cownie says it’s impossible to put a face on the homeless because they come from varied backgrounds.

"Sometimes they were employed and now they’re unemployed and we don’t know for what reason," Cownie says, "we hear stories of people who did so well in college and started a career, and have worked at a university or worked in a hospital, who have been a doctor, or a lawyer, or a professor, and all of a sudden things break down." Cownie calls the issue of homelessness one of the toughest problems cities face. But he says putting a ten-year plan in place to fight it is a good first step. 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Human Interest

Featured Stories

Reynolds signs her ‘school choice’ bill into law

Governor Reynolds touts 2024 Iowa Caucuses in Inaugural Address

University of Iowa grad presiding over U.S. House Speaker vote

Iowan who was oldest person in the U.S. dies

Iowa Lottery to start making some payments via debit cards

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State names new receivers coach

No. 2 Iowa visits No. 1 Penn State in wrestling dual Friday night

Iowa’s Clark brings increased exposure to women’s basketball

No. 18 Iowa State women visit TCU

Northern Iowa men host Valparaiso

More Sports

Archives

Copyright © 2023 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC