BEAVERDALE, Iowa — City leaders have agreed upon a preliminary commitment that will grant $1 million in funding for a special type of female group home in Beaverdale.
Back in August, the Des Moines Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a request from child welfare nonprofit Ellipsis to buy out the building at 5525 Meredith Drive in an effort to provide more housing for young women who are aging out of the foster system. On Monday night, the City Council voted 5-0 with one abstention.
Now, Ellipsis CEO Chris Koepplin says they will able to start transforming the Meredith Drive building once they receive the funding. Currently, they plan to convert the top floor of the space into eight efficiency apartments.
"Being good stewards of dollars is really important for us as a nonprofit," Koepplin told Local 5. "We're really trying to help kids who've had a rough time find opportunity to be able to find success as they grow up.”
Community Development Block Grants are federally funds administered by local governments, designed to help move social welfare programs forward, according to Koepplin.
After spending significant time looking for the right space, Koepplin and the Ellipsis team decided on the Beaverdale office building, as it was in a safe neighborhood and provided access to local businesses in town.
"Our kids that are really trying to transition to independent living, [they] need to have some job opportunities, and be close enough to public transportation to get to the places that they need to be in the community," Koepplin said.
Council member Connie Boesen has long supported Ellipsis' efforts during her time on council, describing their programs as a "great mechanism to provide more assistance to people in need."
"It's a group that's been around for quite some time now, and they have a good track record of really making a difference in kids' lives," Boesen added.
Progress made on the new group home hasn't always been linear.
Directly behind the property sits Meredith Village Townhomes. Some residents of the community attended the board's meeting in August, voicing their opposition in a public hearing.
"My concern this afternoon is primarily one of security," resident Tom Scherer said in the August meeting.
Fellow resident Tom Lapointe cited traffic safety concerns on Meredith Drive, like a lack of sidewalks and a 35 mph speed limit.
"I think there's a number of other groups that are underserved in our community as well ... that said, I don't need them all in my backyard," resident Will Morton added in August.
Ellipsis responded to the concerns by sitting down with many of the townhome residents, providing solutions and speaking of the underserved community that they're trying to protect. The non-profit now officially owns the building.
"The messaging around who our kids are and the fact that they're going to grow up to be our neighbors, and our friends, and our coworkers, and our employees, you know, is really important," Koepplin said. "That's what we try to tell them."