Humility Homes reflects on housing challenges
April is National Fair Housing Month, and a local organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the Quad Cities is making sure people who need help with housing get that help.
Humility Homes and Services, based in Davenport, has been operating since the 1990’s. Representatives with the non-profit spoke about how important this month is, especially for the residents in the Quad Cities. They reflected on their time helping people who were affected by the Davenport building collapse last year.
“Just this year we’ve already reached out to 1,032 people,” Josh Graves, Director of Marketing Development for Humility Homes, said. “That shows that this number of need in our community is continuing to increase. Here at Humility Homes, we do feel like homelessness can be solved in the Quad Cities, but it is going to take a community effort.”
Graves showed Our Quad Cities News around the Humility Homes campus and resources they are giving to people in need. Clothing items, furniture, kitchenware and more were being given to those in need. “Originally, our goal was to end homelessness in 10 years back in the 1990’s,” Graves said. “Obviously it’s something that continues to evolve and the issues here are something that we think is a need.
Graves reflected on the importance of providing homes to families in emergency situations. “The building that collapsed previously last year, we had about 12 participants that we were able to stay in contact through our previous services,” Graves said. “Especially in an emergency situation, and really no matter what the circumstances are, everyone deserves a safe and stable place to live.”
Along with the Davenport collapse, Humility Homes worked with residents in the Schricker Apartments. They say more buildings will be evacuated. “100%. I think those two are the two that we’ve seen, but there’s more coming,” Ashley Velez, Executive Director for Humility Homes and Services, said. “Two weeks ago, there was a couple of duplexes that closed down, but that was only two, so that didn’t make the news. The Schricker was 18, the Davenport was 84, so every day it’s actually happening. You can drive around and see yellow stickers, and if you go and look at it, that’s what it is.”
Humility Homes met with the City of Moline about a ‘built for zero’ approach, hoping other cities in the area will follow their lead. “It’s community collaboration where the cities lead with the housing providers,” Velez said. “You systematically work on one population at a time to reduce it. Rockford was one of the first in the country to do that.”
Humility Homes hopes residents can continue to be helped through their organization, especially if more buildings in the area are deemed unsafe to live in. “You can never really be prepared for some of the major things that happen in one’s life,” Sister Mary Ann Vogel, cofounder of Humility Homes and Services, said. “Anybody can become homeless.”
Humility Homes and Services is a non-profit organization dependent on funds from community members that generously donate to their cause. For more information, click here.
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