Central Iowa Shelter & Services

Central Iowa Shelter & Services, a Des Moines-based nonprofit community development corporation and tax-exempt entity, delivers outreach, case management, emergency transitional housing, and clinical care coordination to homeless veterans as a prime contractor and grant recipient across federal contracts and grants issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with no subcontractor engagement on its primary work.

The organization operates exclusively in full-and-open competition with no set-aside designations across its federal footprint. Central Iowa Shelter & Services is concentrated entirely with the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 (VISN 23) on the contract side, which accounts for 25 awards and the full $7 million in combined potential value across the prime contract portfolio. That concentration reflects six delivery orders placed under VISN 23's indefinite delivery contract (36C26321D0020) valued at $518 thousand combined potential value, plus additional task orders under four other VA IDCs — 6 task orders under VA26315D0112 ($349 thousand), 4 under VA26312D0208 ($164 thousand), 2 under VA26312D5000 ($320 thousand), and 1 under VA263P1307 ($199 thousand). Recent contract awards from VISN 23 include a $98.5 thousand delivery order awarded July 1, 2026, for healthcare services to homeless veterans in Des Moines running through June 30, 2027; a $91 thousand delivery order awarded January 1, 2025, for the fifth ordering period under the larger indefinite delivery contract; and a $49.3 thousand six-month extension awarded January 1, 2026. The organization has maintained consistent annual delivery orders from VISN 23 ranging from approximately $49 thousand to $98.5 thousand since at least 2020, with a baseline indefinite delivery contract valued at $474.6 thousand through December 2025.

On the grant side, Central Iowa Shelter & Services holds 10 prime federal grant awards and 6 sub-grant awards across three federal agencies. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development funds five Continuum of Care Program project grants, the most recent awarded January 1, 2025, running through December 31, 2025. The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration Under Secretary for Health provides per diem and case management funding for transitional housing and support services, with a $300 thousand grant awarded August 28, 2023, running through September 30, 2025. The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service has funded two Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production grants: a $300 thousand project grant awarded July 13, 2022, supporting conversion of unused urban drainage infrastructure into food production for homeless individuals (running through November 1, 2024), and a September 30, 2023, grant supporting the Agrihood project in downtown Des Moines, which recruits over 120 beginning farmers and operates a food truck program featuring fish tacos, running through September 29, 2026. Central Iowa Shelter & Services also receives sub-grant awards from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Recent sub-grant activity includes awards for emergency shelter services, HOME-ARP rental housing, and transitional supportive housing coordination. Activity has remained flat at two to five awards annually from 2022 through 2026, with four awards totaling $99 thousand in combined potential value reaching completion within the next twenty-four months.