Governor Chet Culver made stops in two western Iowa cities today to tout projects which will receive financing from the state’s new “I-JOBS” initiative.
Culver convinced legislators to borrow over $800 million for a variety of infrastructure projects. Half a million in I-JOBS money will go toward housing in western Iowa for people with disabilities according to Culver. Two apartment complexes will be built in Council Bluffs for residents who are mentally or developmentally disabled.
Jim Pullman, executive director of the Omaha-based outfit that will build the apartments, says the new units are needed.
“We’ve seen numerous people that we’ve provided 24-hour supports to gain enough independence and enough skills to move out on their own, only to find that when they find a place that they can afford, it’s not in a very good part of town (and) they find themselves isolated in their own community with no friends, no phone, no one to turn to for immediate help,” he says.
Residents of the new apartments will pay 30 percent of their income in rent. The state’s putting up one-fifth of the financing for the units. The other $2 million is coming from the federal government’s Housing and Urban Development agency.
The governor visited Council Bluffs this morning. Over the noon-hour, Culver was in Sioux City, to tout I-JOBS projects in that area.