Dear Editor,
Growing up in Greene County in the ’80s and ’90s, it would have seemed otherworldly to know that a man experiencing homelessness was living out of his minivan in front of the Grand Junction library. With exception to the rare transient, it seemed as if “homeless people” were relegated to the streets of downtown Des Moines, and other places far bigger than Jefferson, Grand Junction, Scranton or Churdan. The times, however, have changed. “Rural homelessness” is a growing issue in our nation. The reasons why vary from individual to individual, but this much seems certain: in our society, people become homeless faster now. With many of us living so close to the edge, it would seem that a number of people these days are only one missed paycheck, one disaster or one family disagreement away from being pushed into homelessness.
The Greene County Homeless Coalition was formed several years ago to help. But thanks to the giving of the community over the past several weeks, we have never been better equipped to help. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Greene County community, and extremely touched that our community has recognized this mission as worthwhile of such support. We would like to first thank the Greene County Clergy Association for recently allowing us to open an account of our own, under their auspices, at Home State Bank. The Homeless Coalition was then designated as the beneficiary of the offering taken at this year’s ecumenical Thanksgiving service at Central Christian Church — a gesture that deserves much thanks. From there, we have been surprised by several additional donations. We would like to extend a public, heartfelt thank you to Tom Yepsen, to the members of Jan Aegerter’s exercise group, and to St. Joseph’s Church for generously supporting this cause. Every cent will be used to temporarily shelter those in need at local hotels until they can be connected with longer-term services based out of Ames, Fort Dodge or Des Moines.
For more information, or for assistance, give us a call at 515-370-2487 or 515-370-0219. To become a part of the coalition and to help with a Point-in-Time count we will be conducting countywide in late January, please email andrewcmcginn@gmail.com. It’s our belief that those experiencing homelessness should be treated with the kindness and dignity that any one of us would want should we find ourselves in a similar predicament. Thank you, all, for sharing that belief.
Andrew McGinn and Kyle Kinne, co-chairs
Greene County Homeless Coalition
