- PCHTF
- Apr 14, 2022
- 1 min read
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund recognizes these five finalists and scholarship recipients announced during the Can I Be Your Neighbor Student Design Challenge finals on April 2, 2022. The challenge is made possible by Des Moines architectural firm ASK Studio and additional scholarship sponsors, listed below.
This year's challenge involved designing an Accesssory Dwelling Unit (ADU), a smaller housing unit located on the same property as a larger home. The students created their designs for a fictional Des Moines homeowner looking for a place for her mother to live in retirement.
Griffin Gade of Ankeny High School received top honors, a $1000 scholarship sponsored by the Home Builders Asociation of Greater Des Moines.
Abigail Levering of Des Moines Central Campus/Virtual Campus was named runner-up and received a $500 scholarship sponsored by the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.
Braden Simonsen of Ankeny High School was named runner-up and received a $500 scholarship sponsored by HOME, Inc.
The other two finalists in the competition, Dylan Hender and Bradley Dacus, both of Ankeny High School, will both receive $250 scholarships courtesy of Jack Hatch/Hatch Development.
The organizers wish to thank Michael Kiernan, community member and local ADU owner, for serving as a judge for the competition and Brad Anderson, state director of AARP-Iowa for making a presentation on ADUs during the event.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) has announced author Shane Phillips as its featured speaker for the 2022 Affordable Housing Week Symposium. Phillips' book, The Affordable City, Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There), says meeting today's housing need requires action to both provide more housing and also help people and families remain stable in their homes.
“We think the book provides a range of practical policy ideas that will help our audience think really big about what’s possible in providing everybody in Greater Des Moines the housing choices they need. It will take multiple strategies to provide those choices, and this will be a great springboard for that discussion,” said Eric Burmeister, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund’s executive director.
In The Affordable City, Phillips provides concise summaries of a multitude of housing policy ideas arranged around what he calls the "Three S's" of Supply, Stability and Subsidy. PCHTF will follow Phillips' talk with panel presentations on each topic featuring discussion of zoning and land use policies, tenant protections, preservation of existing housing, new public investment in housing, and more.
Burmeister says the wide-ranging discussion allows PCHTF to highlight the many partners helping meet Greater Des Moines’ housing need while also encouraging creativity about the region’s approach.
PCHTF plans to hold its symposium at the Iowa Events Center the morning of April 7 beginning at 8:00 am. The event is sponsored by Capital Crossroads and OpportUNITY, a program of the United Way of Central Iowa. While there is no charge to attend and the public is welcome, advance registration is requested at https://ahw22.eventbrite.com.
- PCHTF
- May 3, 2021
- 2 min read
Thank you to the 1,500+ people who joined us for the Polk County Housing Trust Fund's 10th Annual Affordable Housing Week where we kicked off a momentous effort to plan for our region's housing issues. On Friday, we culminated the week of educational opportunities by presenting the Capital Crossroads Workforce Housing Study Strategy Report to area residents and leaders. You can view the video presentation here.
The week was filled with data, information and insights into our current and future housing needs. 3 key takeaways from the week...
1 - Metro leaders are committed to solving this issue -- together.
Throughout the week, we heard from City Council members, Mayors and County Supervisors about the importance of our region working together.
"The only way to tackle this problem is to address it on a regional level"-- Russ Trimble, West Des Moines City Council
"Where people live and work needs to be planned for"-- Susan Judkins, Clive City Council
"Regional Affordable Housing is a critical initiative for all municipalities."-- Renee Hardman, West Des Moines City Council
"A Regional Affordable Housing Plan is important to Urbandale because it will ensure that Urbandale can continue to thrive."-- Bridget Carberry-Montgomery, Urbandale City Council.
2 - Area residents are eager to advocate for affordable housing.
Over 1500 area residents engaged with information about their community throughout this week of virtual events. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we shared infographics for 11 area cities that include data on the housing stock, annual household income, and percentage of income paid towards housing costs.
Update! This information is now available here: https://www.herewegrow.city/communities
3 - Data is a powerful tool.
This was a week that showed us the importance of data in how we understand our housing climate. We broadcasted live the data that was compiled for our Metro communities. You can view those live broadcasts on Facebook and Youtube.
We also learned about additional data tools including the Urban Land Institute's Home Attainability Index and unevictIA. We look forward to using these new tools to learn even more about the needs of Polk County families, and to better serve those needs in the years to come.