2024 Bus Tour
Anawim’s annual bus tour was held on June 12th with great success. The bus was packed with a combination of interested citizens, current and prospective board members and media who were able to learn more about how Anawim impacts our community through property management, permanent supportive housing and development of affordable housing.
Anawim President Cynthia Latcham lead the tour which began with a viewing of the currently under construction Monarch Apartments. The Monarch was previously a hotel that is being converted into 40 permanent supportive housing units and will serve people with disabilities exiting homelessness. To that end, the first floor will be comprised of ADA units, supportive services will be offered on site and an evidence based peer support model will be utilized to support long term housing stability which has greater success due to the trust and understanding those staff members can provide to tenants as they move through the process of leaving homelessness.
Moving away from the Monarch tour attendees were able to see a section of townhomes along Forest Ave that are highly sought after by families. From there we also viewed the nearby Legacy Park project, a combination of single family homes, duplexes and multifamily dwellings. Legacy Park is comprised of properties acquired early in the life of Anawim Housing and supported Sister Stella’s belief that people should be able to choose from a variety housing and location that best suited their needs and budget.
As the tour came to a close attendees were able to see Anawim founder Sister Stella’s historic home and hear a bit about what her ethos and inspiration behind creating Anawim was. A subject that will be further explored and expanded upon in our upcoming Sister Stella Revitalization Campaign. The final moments of our tour were spent along historic 6th Avenue, where Anawim has some of its oldest roots. The Maine, an apartment building listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was highlighted as a symbol of both Anawim’s past commitments as well as future plans of continued community support.
Our bus tour was once more a huge success, as we were able to highlight the importance of the role Anawim plays within the community as well as share our past successes and upcoming projects with supportive and excited members of our Des Moines community.
