Hawthorn Hill
When Tim Shanahan, Executive Director of Hawthorn Hill, considers the past year’s most significant accomplishment for Hawthorn Hill’s The Home Connection program, the answer comes fast: “Getting four families who were homeless into home ownership.”
That’s quite a feat, considering that people can go from living on the streets to owning their own home. But it is the role Hawthorn Hill’s The Home Connection program has chosen to play in the Des Moines area since 1989 – to provide transitional housing and supportive services for homeless families with children.
The Home Connection pioneered transitional housing in Polk County. It is the only program with single-family homes and duplexes – a total of 21 in all – located in various Des Moines neighborhoods. While The Home Connection clients live in those homes, they work with a counselor who helps them identify the causes of their homelessness and assists them with developing a plan, with goals, to remedy those causes and attain economic self-sufficiency.
In the last year, The Home Connection has served:
- 27 Households
- 34 Adults
- 86 Children
Families that completed the program:
- 60% moved to permanent rental housing
- 40% purchased their own home
Family Incomes:
- Average family household monthly income at beginning of program — $1,239 ($14,868 annual)
- Average family household income at completion of program — $2,226 ($26,712 annual).
- 85% of all families in the program reduced their debt and outstanding bills and 93% of all families established savings or increased their savings.
Hawthorn Hill
- 3001 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50312 - Phone: 515.244.9748
- Fax: 515.244.9752
- tim@hawthorn-hill.org
- www.hawthorn-hill.org
Since 2006...
PCHTF has provided $735,100 in support for projects and services of Hawthorn Hill.
