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YWCA executive director tells Clinton City committee the agency housed 324 people last year; committee accepts report
Summary
At a Committee of the Whole meeting, YWCA Executive Director Shannon Sander Wellzine reported the agency housed 324 people (including 110 children) last fiscal year, credited city TIF LMI funds with helping 68 households, and requested confirmation of matching-fund rules; the committee accepted the year-end report by roll call.
The Clinton City Committee of the Whole heard a year-end update from YWCA Executive Director Shannon Sander Wellzine, who said the agency housed 324 people last fiscal year, including 110 children, and answered more than 1,900 housing-crisis helpline calls over that period.
Sander Wellzine told the committee the YWCA provides street outreach, homeless prevention (help for people at risk of losing housing within 14 days), rapid rehousing (up to 12 months of rent and utility assistance), permanent supportive housing and emergency-shelter services established during the COVID pandemic. She said the organization is reporting on year two of a three-year agreement with the city and thanked Clinton City for eight years of TIF LMI support.
"This funding specifically helped 68 households experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness maintain their housing in the city of Clinton," Sander Wellzine said. She said most city grants go directly to clients to pay rent and do not cover YWCA case-management costs. She also reported an 82% housing-retention rate for people the YWCA assisted.
The director described local need: she said roughly 36% of Clinton County residents are in poverty or living paycheck-to-paycheck and that, by her account, Clinton County ranks third in the state for per-capita homelessness. She said the Eastern Iowa coordinated entry list had about 148 households waiting for program openings and that roughly 90% of those households are from the city of Clinton.
Sander Wellzine said the YWCA typically brings $500,000–$600,000 in external funding to place or keep roofs over heads in the community and that HUD and Iowa Finance Authority grants require roughly $125,000–$135,000 in local matching funds; she noted the city’s $50,000 contribution helps secure those additional dollars. She also described operational issues at the new permanent supportive housing site — a hot-water problem and an access-control fob system that staff are working to resolve before move-ins.
The committee moved to accept the YWCA end-of-year/fiscal-year report and approved it by roll call without recorded opposition; staff and the YWCA agreed to follow up on questions about TIF LMI language and matching-fund rules. Sander Wellzine asked council members to reach out with questions and said the agency will continue coordinating with city staff.
