This Year's Project: Keep Feeding Siouxland!
About Our Organization
Our mission…Dedicated to building partnerships, strengthening families and alleviating the conditions and causes of poverty.
Every day, people walk through our doors that have suddenly become homeless, lost a job, are hungry, or face their utilities being shut off or even eviction. We have helped the most vulnerable people in our community for 50 years. We offer both short term assistance to help in times of crisis and long term programs that support low-income families on the path to self-sufficiency.
The Community Action Agency of Siouxland is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, serving low-income Woodbury county residents and governed by a local board of directors that represent and advocate for the poor.
For more information contact Jean Logan, Executive Director at 712-251-1303 or Katie Logan, Development Director at 712-577-1919.
Current Project: Keep Feeding Siouxland!
NO ONE in our community should go to bed hungry. We need your help to feed those in need for the next six months.
Community Action Agency is the ONLY Food Pantry in the area open to the public 40 hours a week. Due to the many changes to state food assistance in the past year, there has been a large increase in the number of households our agency serves each month. The agency provides three to five days’ worth of food for residents of Woodbury County.
The past few years we have also been providing families with basic personal and household hygiene items (See Below). For a family of 4 to receive an adequate amount of food, toiletries, and household cleaning supplies, it can cost our agency around $40 to $50. Please help us to ensure that every family we serve continues to have access to nutritious food.
Last year, 1,843 households received food, toiletries, or household cleaning supplies from our pantry.
Since January of this year, our agency has already served over 1,400 households through our food pantry. Well over 200 of those families also received personal/household hygiene items with their food.
We need your help to keep up with the demand of serving over 200 households each month. NO ONE should go to bed hungry. Help us keep feeding Siouxland!
Common Food Items Families Receive
Canned Fruits and Vegetables, Pasta, Frozen or Canned Meat, Canned Soup, Cereal, Dehydrated Milk, Peanut Butter, Pasta Sauce, Rice, Boxed Dinners, Instant Potatoes
Hygiene Items Available to Families
Personal: Soap/Body Wash, Shampoo, Deodorant, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Razors, Feminine Products, Diapers (Sizes 1-4 and Adult), Wipes, Sunscreen
Household: Toilet Paper, Dish Soap, Laundry Soap, All-Purpose Disinfectant, Wash Cloths/Rags, Hand Sanitizer
Keep Feeding Siouxland!
Project Wrap Up
We are so proud that we were able to raise over $27,000 for our food pantry last year! Without help from generous groups and individuals we truly would not be able to sustain our pantry the way we need to.
Project Details
NO ONE in our community should go to bed hungry. We need your help to feed those in need for the next six months.
Community Action Agency is the ONLY Food Pantry in the area open to the public 40 hours a week. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of families served in the past six months. The agency provides three to five days’ worth of food for residents of Woodbury County.
This past year we have also been providing families with basic personal and household hygiene items (See Below). Depending on the families’ needs, it costs roughly $20 - $30 to provide an adequate amount of food, toiletries, and household cleaning supplies. Please help us to ensure that families continue to have access to nutritious food.
Number of Households Served Each Month This Year
January - 69
February - 68
March - 81
April - 108
May - 152
June - 160
July - 178
August – 222
Common Food Items Families Receive
Canned Fruits and Vegetables, Pasta, Frozen or Canned Meat, Canned Soup, Cereal, Dehydrated Milk, Peanut Butter, Pasta Sauce, Rice, Boxed Dinners, Instant Potatoes
Hygiene Items Available to Families
Personal: Soap/Body Wash, Shampoo, Deodorant, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Razors, Feminine Products, Diapers (Sizes 1-4 and Adult), Wipes, Sunscreen
Household: Toilet Paper, Dish Soap, Laundry Soap, All-Purpose Disinfectant, Wash Cloths/Rags, Hand Sanitizer
Welcome Home Celebrates 10 Years!
Project Details
For the past 10 years, nearly 280 families have walked through the doors at Welcome Home. Our program has been life-changing for homeless families who need a place to call their own. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, we know more and more families are struggling and at-risk of being homeless. For Eva McCauley, Welcome Home provided more than just shelter for her and her children. "Welcome Home was the turning point for me and my kids," said McCauley. "We had been through so much and this program helped me to find a new home and strengthen our family bond." When Eva came to Welcome Home, she was employed, but it was not enough to pay all of the bills. During her 90-day stay at Welcome Home, Eva was able to find full-time employment, a new home and has even become a foster Mom. "I just want people to know that anything is possible. Just when you think you are down and out, there are places like Welcome Home that help pick you up and help you be successful on your own."
Stories like Eva's are ones that we see over and over again at Welcome Home. Out of the 280 families that we have seen, more than half have been able to find permanent housing. We are also pleased to report that more than 90% have either continued their employment or advanced. That is why its vital to keep this unique program going. Welcome Home is primarily funded through grants and donations. We want to thank you in advance for your donation to Welcome Home during the Siouxland BIG Give. We are beyond grateful to the Kind World Foundation for matching any donation, dollar for dollar, you make today!
Welcome Home
Project Details
Community Action Agency of Siouxland serves more than 14,000 low-income individuals each year. We do this through a number of programs including early childhood education, food assistance, emergency assistance, heating assistance, weatherization, transitional housing, senior employment training, child care nurse consultant, family development. We also have a program that reimburses in home day cares with nutritious meals and snacks.
One of the programs that Community Action Agency of Siouxland runs is called Welcome Home. Since 2011, we have served more than 260 families. In the eight Welcome Home apartments, families stay around 90 days. The objective of the program to provide temporary housing for homeless families while giving them intensive support to overcome barriers and most importantly, helping families obtain permanent housing. Out of the families we have served, more than 238 of them have obtained new housing. Many of these families are working, but not making enough to pay for rent. Welcome Home provides shelter to allow families time and support to overcome obstacles such as unemployment or underemployment.
As the COVID pandemic grew, Welcome Home was forced to stop accepting new families into the apartments. Due to some families being diagnosed with COVID-19 and influenza, families who were in the program were allowed to stay longer than the 90 days to prevent community spread. We also had families who were dealing with financial hardships during the pandemic due to being laid off or being furloughed. Under normal circumstances, families must pay a portion of their pay for program fees. However, this was not possible due to lack of work or being ill. Despite, the financial hardship this caused the program, we knew we had to do the right thing for our families and the community.
During this time, we have also experienced another unexpected financial set back. While our families are at Welcome Home they meet with our Family Specialist who helps them with various resources in the community. In addition to this, the Family Specialist normally would visit them daily in their apartment. With the ongoing pandemic and illnesses, our employee could not perform these checks. Unfortunately, as a result of this, we learned some tenants had caused damage to their apartments, leading to costly repairs and need for an exterminator to come.
For more than a decade, Welcome Home has been helping families to stay together and to find permanent housing. We want to continue to serve these families, but it is growing difficult as operating and repair costs grow.
New Mower!
Project Details
In the past year, Community Action Agency of Siouxland has helped to strengthen the lives of more than 15,000 elderly, children, youth and families in Siouxland. We believe in providing short-term care and encouraging long-term change to those that need it most in Siouxland. It is important that when people come to our nine Sioux City facilities that the grounds reflect the great work that is being done inside. For more than 15 years, we have mowed thousands of hours on our current riding lawn mower and it has taken its toll. Each time we mow, our grounds crew must take a least an hour out of their job to repair our mower. We would like your help to purchase a new mower so we can keep our grounds looking great and fun to play on for our nearly 450 children that we serve. We appreciate your ongoing support of Community Action Agency of Siouxland!
Homeless Shelters, Health & Nutrition, Emergency & General Assistance & Early Childhood Programs
Project Details