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Iowa West Foundation awards $3.9 million in Cycle 1 grants, earmarks $2 million for housing
Summary
Brenda Mainwaring of the Iowa West Foundation told the Council Bluffs City Council the Cycle 1 awards total $3.9 million, including $2 million for housing, grants to historical and sports organizations, and support for eviction diversion and food pantry operations.
Brenda Mainwaring of the Iowa West Foundation told the Council Bluffs City Council that the foundation awarded $3.9 million in Cycle 1 grants and initiatives, with roughly $2 million targeted toward creating and rehabbing housing units.
Mainwaring said the awards include about $500,000 for arts and sports entertainment events intended to attract tourism, a $1 million award to Habitat for Humanity to acquire distressed or blighted properties, and $500,000 in two-year funding to Together Inc. for the Nourish CB Choice Pantry at the Lincoln Campus.
“For the first time in a very long time we’ve given a grant to the Pottawatomie County Historical Society,” Mainwaring said, adding the funds will help the society increase visitor hours at historic sites.
Mainwaring also flagged two $1.5 million awards in this cycle intended to prevent loss of existing housing, improve housing quality and catalyze new construction; and a $500,000 award to Front Porch Investment, an Omaha-based organization that provides loans to local builders.
The foundation said it partnered with Iowa Legal Aid to provide tenant representation when nonprofit acquisitions of blighted properties could displace renters, and it continues funding for an eviction diversion help desk serving courthouse clients.
Mainwaring noted additional awards include support for a first-responder community health coach through the Council Bluffs Police and Fire Department (funded via the Jenny Edmonson Memorial Hospital Foundation) and an added grant to the Omaha Sports Commission to coordinate regional sporting events that could bring visitors to Council Bluffs.
The foundation supplied councilmembers with a press release on the awards; Mainwaring invited questions but no council action was required at the meeting.
