Matt White, consultant and senior associate from Housing Innovations, presenting during a public feedback meeting on Thursday night.
(Des Moines, IA) -- A consultant group is trying to find solutions to housing problems in Des Moines.
"Everything from engaging people and moving them to tiny homes to shelter pallets, to housing strategy," said Matt White, consultant and senior associate from Housing Innovations, working with Homeword, "that coupled with a lack of shelter access for families puts families in really challenging situations."
The group, working with the City of Des Moines and Polk County, is also suggesting that local officials to allow for sanctioned encampments. White says it is happening right now.
"Along the railroad tracks, along the river bed, in public parks," White said, even including Gray's Lake. "Those are all locations were we happen to see people in temporary shelter like accommodations, bedding down, temporary structures, and we're going to have to develop a strategy to engage them and house them."
White says the group is scheduled to have a final plan together by March. He hosted a public presentation on the group's progress Thursday night.
Wanda Price works with finding housing solutions for homeless people and was one of the people in attendance. She says options for those with low income or no income can be bleak.
"The biggest issue with homelessness in Des Moines is affordable housing, that's by far the most pressing issue," Price said, "I think that if we looked at this systematically, it comes way before that."
She says problems leading to homelessness can start early in a person's life.