From the President

During times of transition there are great opportunities to take stock, evaluate, recommit and celebrate.  This past year we celebrated 35 years since Sister Stella Neil and the first board of committed volunteers came together to address housing shortages and forge a path to transform the landscape of affordable housing in the River Bend neighborhood.  Those committed individuals have been on my mind a lot lately.  They saw a need and took definitive actions to create an impact in a neighborhood they cared deeply about.  It took grit and determination and according to those who were there, sometimes a lot of elbow grease. We are grateful for their leadership and vision and the path they created. 

The past thirteen years Anawim has grown under Russ Frazier’s leadership.  Anawim intentionally entered into the development space with a clear vision of increasing affordable housing within Polk County and throughout the State of Iowa.  Russ cultivated a culture at Anawim that allowed for creativity and innovation to flourish.  Anawim succeeded in adding critical housing to communities.

As the third individual to lead Anawim Housing, I recognize the importance of the role we play in our community to serve people with housing interventions that fit their needs, whether that be an affordable and safe place to live or permanent and supportive housing.  I hope to bring the tenacity and passion of Sister Stella to the role as well as the creativity and innovation of Russ Frazier.  But the mission of Anawim cannot rest solely upon any one person.  Our organization is much more important than that.  We rely on our staff, volunteers, community partners and donors to fulfill our mission and vision.  Housing is a community need.  Creating and preserving affordable housing and permanent supportive housing can only happen when it is prioritized across multiple sectors.  We will continue to bring our passion and expertise to the table and work together to move the needle forward on providing housing solutions for our community’s most vulnerable citizens.  We will utilize our value statements of intentionality, innovation, dignity and people development.  These value statements stand as pillars for us to measure our progress towards fulfilling our mission and vision.  Anawim staff and leaders are focused and excited to continue the work we started and meet the growing need. We invite you to join with us as we do so.

Cynthia Latcham
President
Anawim Housing