The Cedar Valley Friends Of The Family, Inc.

The Cedar Valley Friends Of The Family, Inc., doing business as Cedar Valley Friends, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Waverly, Iowa, that receives federal grants as a prime recipient to deliver emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, and victim support services across 25 counties in Northeast Iowa. Cedar Valley Friends operates entirely within the federal grant space rather than federal contracting; the organization has no federal contract prime awards or IDV vehicles and serves as a sub-recipient on a limited basis alongside its dominant posture as a grant recipient.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development is the overwhelming primary customer, accounting for 51 of 59 total awards (97% coverage). Cedar Valley Friends holds multiple active Continuum of Care Program (CFDA 14.267) project grants spanning emergency shelter, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, supportive services, and Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) implementation. Representative CoC awards include a $744,060 three-year grant (January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2026) supporting emergency shelter and rapid rehousing services; a $627,734 Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant (CFDA 14.276, awarded September 5, 2025) supporting coordinated youth homelessness prevention and housing for unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth aged 24 and younger; and a $422,892 CoC Domestic Violence Bonus Grants award (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) specifically targeting survivors of domestic violence with rapid rehousing and supportive services. Cedar Valley Friends also holds four concurrent calendar-year CoC grants awarded January 1, 2026, covering different service components and geographic priorities, with combined annual values ranging from $146,090 to $454,036.

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime provides the secondary customer stream with four awards, and the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families accounts for two awards. Cedar Valley Friends acts as a sub-recipient on federal victim services and homeless assistance funding channeled through the Iowa State Department of Justice (providing shelter services to crime victims through shelter service awards dated October 1, 2023; October 1, 2024; and October 1, 2025) and receives HOME ARP Services sub-grant support. Activity has grown materially year over year—four awards in 2022 to twelve in 2025—with seven awards (representing multiple CoC project grants) holding ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months and therefore subject to recompete.

Cedar Valley Friends' service footprint encompasses emergency shelter, transitional housing placement, rapid rehousing, street outreach, homeless prevention counseling, case management, transportation support, and trauma-informed care for vulnerable populations including individuals and families experiencing homelessness, domestic violence survivors, sexual abuse victims, human trafficking survivors, and at-risk youth. The organization registered with the System for Award Management in 2005 and maintains focus on federal grant funding to sustain regional homelessness and victim services operations rather than federal contract procurement.