A record number of Des Moines families experiencing homelessness are staying in hotel rooms while they wait for shelter space. The Polk County Board of Supervisors will consider tripling the budget next year for the program supporting the hotel stays to account for the new level of demand.
In 2022, the cost of temporary hotel stays was $22,000. For 2025, the projected amount will be $300,000 — almost 14 times the previous cost. More families mean more demand, and without more shelter space for them to move into, what used to be a hotel stay for a couple of days is now a couple of weeks.
Primary Health Care and 211 Iowa conduct a screening process to determine what is available for people who lose their housing. Those staying in hotel rooms are typically families with children grappling with an emergency. They have no car, no family or friends to stay with and can’t wait for shelter space. PHC's Jenna Schuck says they have no other choice.
“Their only option is then to potentially sleep outside with that minor child, which we just can't have,” said Schuck, PHC Centralized Intake Program Manager. “That's just not an option.”
There are only three shelters in Des Moines that have enough space for families to be housed together. More than 140 families are staying in hotels while waiting for one of just 18 rooms to open up.
Emergency funding needed while county works on affordable housing
The lack of options is due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on operations. Family Promise of Greater Des Moines closed last December because donations and volunteers never returned to pre-pandemic levels. Central Iowa Shelter & Services missed a funding deadline due to staffing shortages. Meanwhile, there are more and more people experiencing homelessness in Polk County.
“Families had used all this prevention money that we got pumped into our community, and after that initial 12 months, or even 18 months, they weren't stabilizing," Schuck said. "They weren't stabilizing, and there was no eviction moratorium, so they were receiving evictions. [Landlords are] not as forgiving, they’re not as willing to hear families advocate for themselves.”
While emergency assistance helps people find temporary shelter, Polk County Director of Community, Family and Youth Services Eric Kool said it is not sustainable for the long term.
“We think it's better for households and families and individuals to be able to be in a location where they can sustain for themselves, rather than depend on ongoing cycles of emergency assistance,” Kool said.
Federal emergency rent assistance has been completely gone since the spring, according to Kool. With no new sources of federal funding, PHC is in a “holding pattern” to keep the resources they still have.
“We need the long term. So that's great. We're really excited about that. We also need money in the short term and the medium term, and what we lack is enough resources along the spectrum of housing,” said PHC Director of Programs Shelby Ridley.
The crux of the issue, according to Ridley, is the tension between affordable housing and emergency assistance. The Polk County supervisors are buying lots to expand housing options.
In October, hotel stays cost $70,000. That’s almost as much as the program cost all of last year.
“Nonprofits in the homeless crisis response system are all feeling a very tight budget and are being asked to do more with the same or fewer resources. That's really not feasible in the long run for us,” Ridley said.
