Highlighting Primary Health Care | March 2025
There are many individuals and organizations that make what we do here at Anawim possible, but one of our most vital partners is Primary Health Care (PHC). Founded in 1981, PHC is focused on providing healthcare and supportive services to all regardless of income or insurance. PHC is also the home of Centralized Intake (CI), a support service dedicated entirely to our local unhoused population. CI provides a hub where families and individuals are able to find information on any and all resources they might need, from benefits and support services, to housing initiatives like Anawim. We spoke with three individuals connected to CI to learn how exactly they help and why this is such a vital resource to our community.
Centralized Intake at PHC - Jenna Schuck
Jenna will be the first to tell you both how important CI is and also how confusing it can seem to those not involved. She describes CI as the “front door” for homelessness in Polk County. It was created 10 years ago to help take the burden of our unhoused population. Where previously clients would have to navigate the system by themselves, often having to find individual locations for any given service and not
Clifton Antoine, Jenna Schuck, Scott Sithonnorath
know what information or documentation they may need until they arrive, CI’s goal was to help people to navigate the system by providing a single place with all the information one might need as well as support staff to help access services regardless of different personal situations. The secondary reason for CI’s creation was to help prioritizes those clients who have the highest vulnerabilities housing interventions at a faster rate. Before CI housing opportunities were often dictated entirely by being in the right place at the right time, which often left those most vulnerable left behind. CI sought to mitigate this problem by using a prioritized waitlist system. Jenna described this process as two-fold; first an initial intake interview to get to know the client on a personal level, and second a screening for housing barriers including health conditions, past housing history, or criminal history. The reason this is so critical according to Jenna is that there are far fewer housing openings than there are people in need of housing. Here is where the other part of CI’s programming is so important - if not everyone can be housed then they need will need resources to help keep them safer while they are unhoused. These resources naturally vary widely, from community referrals that help connect to services, the street outreach team (learn more about their work below from Scott), an economic development program helping connect people with job opportunities, or for those individuals with income the housing navigation program that helps connect people without housing or renters history with landlords that are understanding. Jenna notes that this combination of resources is imperative in particular for young adults (18-24) and families.
With this foundation in mind Jenna turned to PHC and CI’s relationship with Anawim in particular. She noted that part of the reason Anawim was such a great partner was the connection on all levels of both organizations. The feedback that was able to flow both way between the organizations creates a strong level of trust, giving her confidence in her ability to not only recommend clients, but to explain to them what exactly to expect from a placement with Anawim. She described the process of housing with Anawim as fairly straightforward. Clients go through intake, determining what their individual needs and goals are, and then are screened for barriers and vulnerabilities. This screening is vital as to qualify for the services of varying grants (more on that with Lyndsie) clients have to have spent 12 months within the last three years literally homeless (either living outside or in shelters), as well as have a chronic health issue to qualify. Once this eligibility is determined the unfortunate waiting game begins. Here Jenna makes clear that CI’s other services are critical. Once space is open it is a quick process- often paperwork is filled out and the potential home is shown later that same day. Once the client determines the space will work for them they sign a lease with Anawim and can begin moving in!
Jenna makes it clear that this process can only operate at its best with the support of the wider community. When asked how best to do so she replied simply, “The easy answer is always monetary support.” The tried and true of all nonprofit organizations. Jenna was quick to note that she understands that everyone at PHC understands that this isn’t always doable and explained that donations were also vital. She highlighted seasonal clothing, socks, underwear, and hygiene products are always needed. She also noted that breaking down NIMBYism (not in my backyard) is another way to support their system and the unhoused population in Polk County. A major roadblock at times can be community support, depending on the area organizations want to build support solutions. Breaking this stigma is crucial to support the unhoused population in our state. When asked if there was anything else she would want the community to know she noted that housing requires symbiotic solutions of immediate shelter options and long-term supportive housing solutions. “Human life, no matter where it is, matters”, it is to the benefit of all communities for people to take time to learn about housing issues and advocate for our unhoused neighbors whenever we can.
Anawim Housing PSH Program - Lyndsie Angus
Ask anyone around Anawim and they will tell you that Lyndsie is always on the move working on something. As a programs manager she works directly with clients, mainly single, individual adults, conducting apartment visits, connecting clients to resources, and providing support. Her duties do not end there. Lyndsie also manages our referrals from Centralized Intake. From the initial connection to Anawim’s services, to finding an apartment that meets the client’s needs, to matching new clients with their personal program managers, Lyndsie is there. This makes sense considering that programs is where Anawim’s Permanent Supportive Housing operates in the day to day. Serving 239 households around the Des Moines metro, the programs team operates under four different grants to provide housing to our qualified individuals. Of the four grants, two are for youth housing (18-24 year olds), one is for individual adults, and the final is for families. Regardless of which grant may apply Lyndsie explains that to qualify clients must be homeless with a qualifying disability. She explains that in this case a qualifying disability can refer to varying things, from severe mental illness, to substance abuse disorder, to chronic physical conditions, and more. As long as these criteria are met placement works in conjunction with PHC to see what open spaces Anawim has and sending them over to CI to connect with clients.
Once a client is located, Lyndsie notes that the process is both streamlined and client led. After a meeting with a program manager to sign a lease, clients are moved in to their apartment and provided with cleaning supplies, a move in bucket, and some household essentials to help them stabilize. From there goals are tenant led. These could be anything from connecting with disability programs and social security benefits, to seeking further schooling and employment opportunities, to simply reconnecting with family they may have fallen out of touch with while they were unhoused. These goals are supported with a minimum of a monthly meeting at the tenant’s apartment, but could be far more frequent depending on a client’s personal needs. Programs managers also provide tangible assistance with the help of wellness funds that can help clients with obtaining any daily needs- from bus passes, fishing licenses, YMCA and gym passes, to art supplies. There is no time limit places upon tenants, as long as they are within income restrictions, follow their lease, and Anawim has funding they can remain housed.
Lyndsie Angus
Lyndsie drives this sense of permanence home by explaining that Anawim and PSH are the current last solution within the community, serving as a safety net for those that need a higher level of care. Often these clients have exhausted other options and Anawim is working to fill that unrecognized gap, providing the ability to rebuild a foundation for our client’s lives. As all those who work at Anawim will tell you housing is both a human right and healthcare. It is easier to keep up with basic needs when securely housed, by comparison Lyndsie explains that when people are unhoused they are in “survival mode” and cannot think about potential preventative care for themselves. This results in a greater strain on emergency rooms, incarceration systems, and other public resources. She further explains that when stably housed adults are able to pursue employment easier, that children feel safe to attend schools knowing they have a home to return to, and that all of the roughly 380 individuals currently housed in Anawim’s PSH program are able to start looking to the future with a certainty they never could when unhoused.
Street Outreach at PHC - Scott Sithonnorath
Scott describes street outreach as the ultimate form of meeting people where they are at, sometimes literally. Often those living unhoused will be literally hiding in order to feel safe and street outreach literally brings the services to them. As with all PHC services the experience is client led, with outreach workers connecting clients with resources and services aimed towards harm reduction and helping with immediate needs. The goal is to make people even slightly safer than they would be without outreach services. This can mean anything from helping get important documents, aiding in housing applications, providing daily supplies, or driving clients to appointments or stores. Scott explains that, “Everyone should have the opportunity to live a life with dignity”, and that outreach facilitates this by removing any hoops a client might need to jump through to receive aid and prioritizing trust and forming relationships with clients as people – a kindness that so often is taken from our unhoused community members. There are not enough homes available so there is a continued need for these support services and, as Scott points out, trust, kindness, and dignity are key to helping clients because so many have has poor interactions with institutions and systems in the past. These connections aim to help break the cycle of homelessness and in turn benefit the community at large.
As with all aspects of working with our unhoused community this sort of outreach requires financial backing, and though street outreach recently received its first direct funding, it has previously operated without – proving how imperative these resources are. One way that these funds can be allocated is from the yearly Polk County Point In-Time (PIT) count. Serving as a snapshot of what our unhoused populations looks like locally it is meant to help the county with strategy creation to best help individuals, particularly those with the greatest needs. Beyond that Scott points out that is serves as a transparent picture to the wider public of our overall community. With clear data is helps insure that the public has the knowledge necessary not only to begin to understand their unhoused neighbors, but to hold elected officials and the city accountable to follow through with their proposed strategies to help. For Scott the importance of this community support is only second in importance to the daily work of being there in person for our unhoused neighbors.
Scott Sithonnorath and Jenna Schuck
To learn more about Centralized Intake at Primary Health Care, please visit https://phciowa.org/homeless/ .