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IFA Awards more than $730,000 in Grants for Homelessness Services in Iowa

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November 10th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors today (Thursday), announced grant awards of $730,680 to 16 homeless and domestic violence shelters to assist with costs associated with providing essential services and emergency shelter operations. The funding is made available through the state-funded Shelter Assistance Fund program.

In the KJAN listening area, projects awarded Shelter Assistance fund awards includes $47,500 to New Visions Homeless Services, in Council Bluffs. IFA logo

Shelter Assistance Fund applications are accepted on an annual basis and are judged through a competitive process. The Iowa Finance Authority received 19 eligible applications for the 2017 round requesting approximately $900,000 in funding. The program is funded with proceeds from the Real Estate Transfer Tax.

A panel of judges scored the applications based on criteria in several categories, including: project design, experience and capacity, community partnerships, performance, budget and grants management and competition priorities.

The Iowa Council on Homelessness reports that 17,301 Iowans experienced homelessness or were at-risk of homelessness in 2015.