Community Housing Policy
Understanding and communicating good Affordable Housing Policy is critical to the Mission and Vision of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund. The PCHTF Board of Directors envisions this organization as the leader in helping to create, advocate for and drive execution of a community Strategic Plan to provide Safe, Stable and Affordable Housing.
To accomplish this task the PCHTF volunteers and staff must understand the demographics of the community and stay abreast of the most current best practices for delivering Affordable Housing inventory. This micro-site is dedicated to cataloging those resources and making them available to the community at large. In addition, anyone concerned with housing policy should feel free to contact the PCHTF office for information or direction to other resources.
PCHTF Policy Agenda
Our organization's policy positions
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund Policy Committee and Board of Directors set a policy agenda for the organization each year that guides its advocacy efforts. The agenda covers local, state, and federal policy with a particular focus on the local policies that impact affordable housing here in Polk County.
Affordable Housing Information
Statistical and Demographic Information for Polk County, Iowa
This section provides current statistical and demographic information for Polk County, Iowa that relates to Affordable Housing Policy. This information comes from a variety of sources and is the basis for PCHTF funding decisions and advocacy of community-wide strategic initiatives to address its Mission and Vision.
- Graphic of Polk County Renters (2020) (PDF)
- 2020 Area Median Income
- Regional Workforce Housing Strategy - Executive Summary (PDF)
- Tomorrow Plan Housing Report (PDF)
- Demographics of The Urban Core (PDF)
- City of Des Moines Demographics (PDF)
- Housing Challenges of 2021 (PDF)
- Regional Impediments to Housing (PDF)
- Affordable Housing Challenges 2021 (PDF)
- Map of housing & jobs in Central Iowa (PDF)
- Out of Reach Iowa 2020 (PDF)
- One Economy Report (PDF)
PCHTF Housing Policy Research
PCHTF Commissioned Papers
As a part of its responsibilities to the community, the PCHTF engages researchers and interns to study and compile information on selected Affordable Housing Topics. This research supports the advocacy and funding decisions of the Trust Fund. To encourage other funders to adopt similar approaches the PCHTF makes these studies available to the community.
- Predictors of Homelessness in Midwestern States 2020 (PDF)
- Housing and Student Success (PDF)
- Leveraging Location (PDF)
- Public Perceptions (PDF)
- Workforce Housing (PDF)
- Polk County Housing Inventory Part 1 (ISU) (PDF)
- Polk County Housing Inventory Part 2 (PDF)
- Affordable Housing & Wellness Planning (PDF)
- The State of Low Income Students in Polk County (PDF)
- 2019 Downtown Workforce Housing Study (PDF)
Best Practice Studies
Research from National Authors
Many researchers and organizations of national reputation share their work on best practices for Affordable Housing Policy. The PCHTF looks for ways that national programs can be adapted to the Des Moines community to achieve meaningful results. The Trust Fund is committed to sharing the best of these practices with the community at-large.
