Working toward a better Tomorrow!
|  Here at PCHTF, we're still working hard to create Housing Tomorrow, Central Iowa's first regional plan for housing. This month, we wrapped up another series of public meetings around the metro. We heard from people all over the community, like the East Siders pictured at right, about what kinds of housing are needed, and about what things the region can improve upon.
But we know that not everyone can come to our meetings. So we are constantly looking for new ways to make it easy to share your thoughts about housing. We unveiled our survey with Textizen in the October eNewsletter, and now we have created another survey that we hope is the easiest yet.
Click here to take a new online survey that will help us understand your housing needs. The responses are completely confidential, and the survey should only take 5-10 minutes. Your responses will help us determine what policies could be put in place in Greater Des Moines that would help everyone find safe, stable, and affordable housing that fits their needs. We hope to hear from you! |
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Home for the Holidays Habitat welcomes four families to new homes |
This fall more than 800 volunteers worked alongside Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity (GDM Habitat) and homebuyer families to take an empty piece of land in Des Moines' Easter Lake area and build four houses. The walls to the houses were raised at the beginning of September, and by the end of October, four hardworking families were able to purchase an affordable home.
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Tomorrow's Leaders Learn About Housing PCHTF takes GDMLI on a tour of the East Bank |
For the third year, the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute asked PCHTF to present their Community Leadership Program (CLP) participants with a special bus tour focused on housing issues in Des Moines' urban core. This year, we took a full bus of enthusiastic young leaders to the Viva East Bank neighborhoods to showcase the progress being made by our nonprofit partners and other local organizations in the area. Read CLP '15 participant Jeff Liggett's summary of the day's events on the GDMLI Leader Blog by clicking the link below!
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From Hardship to Hope Annual event celebrates those who have overcome homelessness |
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund was proud to sponsor the fifth annual Opening Doors Awards Ceremony on November 19 at the Des Moines Downtown Marriott. Opening Doors: Celebrating Stories of Homelessness to Hope is a fundraiser luncheon that recognizes the outstanding achievements of formerly homeless men and women who have overcome significant barriers to find stable homes and achieve their goals. Read the incredible stories of the five Opening Doors award winners by clicking below.
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Spotlight on Polk County County support continues with Housing Tomorrow |
Our monthly donor recognition series continues with a look at Polk County. Along with The United Way of Central Iowa and The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, Polk County is underwriting the cost of Housing Tomorrow, the regional plan for affordable housing.
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Rory Vail Has the Floor Ankeny instructor asked to share secret sauce for fielding most finalists |
Many area high schools tout their winning records for sports, but Ankeny High School can also tout their outstanding performance in Affordable Housing Week's Design Challenge. Ankeny High students have consistently been top five finalists for this annual competition sponsored by PCHTF. Last year's winner, Christine Orlanes, gives a lot of the credit to teacher Rory Vail, who provides an environment for students to do their best work.
We talked with Vail to learn more about him, the secret ingredient to his students' success and why he believes all area schools would benefit from competing in the Design Challenge for Affordable Housing, a competition that gives students a new perspective on the housing needs of people in their community.
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