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Sitting at the stoplight at the corner of East 14th in my paid for red Chevy Impala, sipping on a Dunkin’ iced coffee on my way home from my job, I notice a desperate man with a sign reading, “Homeless. Anything helps.” I often see people on this corner asking for money or food. Each time, I think of how privileged I am and how sad I feel that I can only provide them with a pack of trail mix — when what they really need is a warm bed to sleep in and a chance to get their lives back on track. 

According to the YMCA of Greater Des Moines Supportive Housing Campus, 12,932 Iowans experienced homelessness in 2017. Every person has a different story about why they ended up with no place to call home. However, there are some common narratives. An article entitled “About Homelessness” by Crisis, an organization that helps people rebuild their lives, laid out some of the causes of homelessness. 

“People become homeless for lots of different reasons,” the article states. “There are social causes of homelessness, such as lack of affordable housing, poverty and unemployment; and life events which cause individuals to become homeless. People can become homeless when they leave prison, care or the army with no home to go to. Many homeless women have escaped a violent relationship. Many people become homeless because they can no longer afford the rent. And for many, life events like a relationship breaking down, losing a job, mental or physical health problems, or substance misuse can be the trigger. Being homeless can, in turn, make many of these problems even harder to resolve.” 

Lack of affordable housing is a significant issue in the Des Moines area. 

According to the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus, Polk County currently has a shortage of more than 7,000 affordable apartments for extremely low-income individuals. Put another way, demand for affordable housing in central Iowa is double that of available units. 

Josh Hellyer, policy and communications coordinator at the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, said, “There are 8,350 rental units considered affordable for extremely low-income central Iowans. Providing double the number of units available is not a problem easily solved by adding just a few apartment buildings.” 

The YMCA Supportive Housing Campus exists to combat the housing need and aid in eliminating homelessness.

According to the organization’s website, “The Y began to provide housing in Des Moines in 1960 as an extended-stay hotel for men. As standards changed, the Y became a weekly rental motel and then an emergency shelter. In the 1990s, funding was granted to create a transitional housing program for homeless adult men. Finally, after much planning, the 

YMCA of Greater Des Moines opened the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus on June 27, 2011.”

The establishment is now based just south of downtown Des Moines and provides housing for anyone, no matter their gender. The Supportive Housing Campus also exists as a more permanent option while residents work toward the financial stability they need to afford rent on their own elsewhere. 

Sarah Wigen, community engagement director for the Supportive Housing Campus, said, “If safe affordable housing is what you need, that can happen here.”

The YMCA Supportive Housing Campus is the only housing program of its kind in the United States in that it provides wrap-around supportive services with no date on when residents must leave.

Around the world, many organizations have been formed to combat homelessness. Approaches include temporary housing models, emergency shelters and transitional housing. However, there is one common theme to these models: They are meant to provide short-term assistance. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine classifies temporary housing models as dwellings for individuals or families that are experiencing temporary or situational homelessness. Emergency shelters are for individuals or families that need a short-term shelter, and transitional housing provides up to 24 months of housing. Homeless shelters are sort of a bare bones option for struggling individuals or families. According to StreetWorks, some shelters only provide a three to five day stay, but 30 days is more common. 

Homeless shelters often serve a meal for their guests as well, but the expectation is that the people will spend a few nights with them and move on. In contrast with these short term options, the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus follows a housing-first model, with no limit to how long someone can be housed.   

“I don’t know how you feel, but if I was at a true shelter and I could only stay 60 or 90 days, I would absolutely be paralyzed by that deadline,” Wigen said. “So, when you take away that deadline of housing, people can really focus on stabilizing and moving forward.”

The Supportive Housing Campus serves people ages 18 and older. Some of the younger residents are aging out of the foster care system or coming from down the road at the Iowa Homeless Youth Center. Many of the older residents have spent decades living on and off the streets.

According to the Supportive Housing Campus’ website, the institution’s goal is to provide hope, dignity and support in the form of permanent supportive housing. 

The Supportive Housing Campus believes that providing individuals with an affordable and secure place to live can help residents get back on their feet. In addition to having an apartment to call their own, residents are provided with case management services, transportation assistance, a pantry full of food, clothes, hygiene products, rental assistance and other services. 

The Supportive Housing Campus currently houses 140 men and women but consistently has a waitlist of around 100 people.

They often must wait six to eight months, Wigen said. The Housing Campus has ways to help people in the meantime like providing snacks, water and other services, but it simply cannot meet the housing need for the large homeless population in Des Moines. 

One of the residents lucky enough to get a spot is 50-year old Shawn Carpenter. 

Carpenter grew up poor and moved around a lot with his family but has good memories of his family camping and fishing together. The hardest part of his childhood was school. Carpenter said he was bullied because of a hearing disability that he was born with. That did not get easier as he grew up. Even into his adult life, Carpenter’s hearing disability has caused problems. He has lost a lot of jobs due to his hearing loss and his hearing aid not being able to work properly in certain conditions. 

Carpenter obtained a degree from DMACC in the automotive tech and autobody program and loved to work on cars. He said he has always had a passion for “hot-‑rods.” As he has gotten older and his hearing has worsened, he has found it more difficult to do this work due to not being able to hear where a sound is coming from on a car. 

This leaves him in a situation where he must be re‑educated to find a different career path.  

“I had to sacrifice a lot of things to keep a roof over my head, until I ran out of money and had to live with my mom for a little bit,” Carpenter said. “So, I was homeless but not completely.”

After living with his mother for a while, Carpenter heard about the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus and came to be a resident. He has now been safely and affordably housed for six years while he continues to search for a good job fit and work on himself as an individual. Carpenter’s stay at the Supportive Housing Campus has been much longer than the average resident — who usually stays about 506 days. 

“I think they’ve helped me out quite a bit, and they still do,” Carpenter said. “Even though I might fall off the horse, they’re here to help you get back on it and better yourself to get out into the real world.” 

All different kinds of people with different stories live at the Supportive Housing Campus. There are people like Carpenter who fell on hard times and unfortunate circumstances but found that Supportive Housing Campus just in time, and there are those who have lived on the streets for years. 

At the Supportive Housing Campus, they say there are 140 apartments. 140 people. 140 stories. 

That’s one of the reasons Wigen loves her job so much. Every day, she gets the chance to show some fragile people that it’s possible to be hopeful because these people might not necessarily be hopeful on their own.

These are people who have been through a lot, no matter what their story is. They are being vulnerable by asking for help with the basics they need to regain financial independence. They are consistently struggling and do the best they can to make the right decisions in this world. 

Similarly, Wigen and her team are consistently trying to do the best they can to find innovative ways to serve their residents. 

Wigen described a time early in her career when she was put in charge of the community pantry at the Campus. She took one look and thought: this pantry needs more candy.

“So, I marched right out and got some candy donated and thought I was doing so good at my job,” Wigen said. 

But it sat there for weeks. She failed to consider that residents are only allowed to take five items at a time.

“Are you going to take the candy when you could have peanut butter, a significant and long-lasting food?” Wigen asked. “These are not people looking for some candy; these are people looking for a couple rolls of toilet paper and some chunky soup.” 

Many people I know, including myself, take things for granted. When we go to our cupboard, we know it’s going to be full. We joke about going to Target for one thing and spending $100 on unnecessary items. It’s easy to go about our daily lives and forget how blessed many of us truly are. We forget about our brothers and sisters who spend nights on the cold streets and early mornings looking for something to eat. 

“We are all worthy of living a life of meaning,” Wigen said. “Having a ‘framily’ matters and impacts so many people’s lives daily.” 

A ‘framily’ is a term that the Supportive Housing campus uses to describe the kind of supportive community it provides for residents. Over time, people who are friends become more like family. For many residents, this might be the first time they have felt love in a long time, or possibly ever. 

Wigen told me a story of a former resident named Ross. Ross had been through trauma and struggled with insecurity. What made Ross so special was the way he was still able to show others that he cared about them. Each time he would pass another resident in the hall, he would say, “I love you, brother.” Ross passed away in the fall of 2017. At Ross’s memorial service held by the Supportive Housing Campus, another resident and a Vietnam veteran shared that he had never been told he was loved until it happened there from Ross and others. 

While the residents are constantly receiving at the Supportive Housing Campus — by feeling loved by friends and staff, supported by a community, and being given supplies and essentials — they also want to give back. Many residents ask if there are ways they can help by volunteering.

One way to help is by folding origami paper cranes. 

Paper cranes have become a symbol and outreach tool for the Supportive Housing Campus. According to the JCCC Origami Crane Project website, “In Japan, the crane is a mystical creature and is believed to live for a thousand years. As a result, in the Japanese, Chinese and Korean culture, the crane represents good fortune and longevity. The Japanese refer to the crane as the ‘bird of happiness.’ Traditionally, it was believed that if one folded 1000 origami cranes, one’s wish would come true. It has also become a symbol of hope and healing during challenging times.” 

Each time the Supportive Housing Campus gives a presentation to raise awareness about its services they give each person a crane made by a resident. For many residents, crane making is a cathartic activity. Many feel like they can do it at first, but it’s not about how many cranes they produce. Rather, it’s about the time spent with others giving back. 

Initially, the residents and staff folded enough cranes to thank the donors to their annual campaign, which was about 400-500 people. 

“Donors loved receiving them in the mail as a thank-you for their gift,” Wigen said. “We chose stars for the next campaign and have finished hearts for our most recent campaign. It has been so neat to spend time with residents in this way, for this purpose. We always come back to making cranes because it really resonates with our supporters, and it’s a lovely thank-you for their presence, gifts and service. Hope and healing during challenging times is what we’re all about.”

The benefits of the Supportive Housing Campus’ model are evident in its graduate program. The graduate program gives residents an opportunity to take the next step toward self-sufficiency by moving off campus with continued support. After demonstrated success on campus, residents can choose to join the graduate program and move into an apartment while continuing to work with a case manager.

“The graduate program offers a unique solution by providing wrap-around support as individuals move from living on campus to an apartment of their own,” the Supportive Housing Campus website states. “For every individual who moves off campus, another individual on the wait list can move into the Y and begin their journey.”

To date, the Supportive Housing Campus has helped more than 600 people regain their independence, pride and — most importantly  — their future.