Living outdoors: Des Moines homeless spend winter in tent city

Chase Ranson Foster, 23, huddled with friends Friday afternoon in a tent outside Central Iowa Shelter and Services in downtown Des Moines.

The high temperature for the day reached 20 degrees.

"We put a blanket around us ... and do whatever we can to keep warm," Foster said.

He is one of a couple dozen homeless men and women living in a makeshift campground outside the city’s largest emergency shelter.

Homeless campgrounds have been an ongoing issue in Des Moines, but Polk County officials said this week they are in early discussions with an out-of-state developer who wants to open a 50-bed, long-term shelter here.

"(That) would free up some room for those folks in the campgrounds," Polk County Supervisor Robert Brownell said.

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A spokeswoman for the developer declined to discuss the project Monday.

Homeless have been living in the campground outside the CISS shelter since November.

The city had planned to move them out earlier, but it put those plans on hold as temperatures dropped. But now the people living there have been told they must move by Feb. 26 or the city will remove their property for them.

CISS shelter workers say the 214-bed facility is always full, but it also does not turn away people in need.

If all the beds are full people are invited to sleep in chairs and offices. Individuals can stay there for 90 days. After that they need to move on.

Some who have no place else to go end up in the tent village.

The number of people living on Des Moines streets doubled from 52 in 2016 to 107 in 2017, according to the Institute for Community Alliances.

Most qualify for permanent housing support, but there are not enough long-term beds in the Des Moines area for them, according to Eric Burmeister, director of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.

Finding a permanent place to live can be difficult for some. Past evictions, bad credit, not enough money for a down payment and a criminal background can disqualify many from securing a lease.

Dino Sciachitano, 57, has been living for several weeks at the CISS shelter, but his time is nearly up.

"(It's) not enough time to seek housing assistance. It's too rushed," said Sciachitano, who has a long criminal history, including sex offenses.

If he can't find housing soon, he may have to move in with his brother, Richard, who's living in a tent next to the shelter.

"Getting somebody into ... a permanent place to stay and wrap-around services is much more successful," said Justin Schoen, who serves on the CISS board.

The YMCA's Supportive Housing Campus at Southwest Ninth and Cherry streets in downtown Des Moines is one of the few long-term options.

It has 140 efficiency apartments for single adults. Rents range from $0 to $508 a month, and there are a gamut of public and private funding streams available to help those who need it. There are no rental or credit history checks and no deposit.

It's permanent housing — the average stay is 17 months — and residents have access to services on site.

The YMCA's units make up about a quarter of all the permanent supportive housing available in the county.

"There's definitely a lack of truly affordable housing for people of extremely low incomes," said Emily Osweiler, executive director of YMCA's Supportive Housing Campus.

Until there is a more long-term solution, Des Moines will continue to grapple with how it deals with the homeless camps, which have inched closer to downtown businesses as developers have moved into areas along the Raccoon River.

The city has received complaints about panhandling, garbage and litter around the camp near the CISS shelter, said Chris Johansen, the city's deputy director of community development.

City workers posted an eviction notice Feb. 2 giving the campers 24 days to vacate the small strip of city-owned land.

Des Moines Councilman Josh Mandelbaum, who was critical of the city's eviction process during his campaign, says he plans to meet with city staff to understand the city's policy before offering a new one.

Des Moines needs to focus on how it deals with the homeless rather than "reshuffling camps from one area to the other," Mandelbaum said. "That doesn't solve anything."