(Radio Iowa) – Construction is underway on two new housing projects in northwest Iowa to help ease the housing crunch, but many more units are needed in that region — and statewide. Amy Keairns, the neighborhood services supervisor for the City of Sioux City, says they’re helping developers pay for two apartment buildings, including converting an old high school. “There will be 71 total units of affordable housing created,” Keairns says, “but there is such a need in our community for affordable housing.” Keairns says that demand extends throughout the state. The two projects will also include a total of eight units for people who are homeless, including outreach services.

“So, they can be self-sufficient and then hopefully living on their own,” she says. Sioux City awarded two contractors more than one-point-two million dollars in American Rescue Plan money to help pay for the two apartment buildings. Keairns says she wishes they could do more. “We’re limited on the dollars that we receive,” Keairns says, “and we’re always seeking out other opportunities for additional funding and additional partnerships to try and do even more as far as new housing units and services as well.”

The apartments will be ready for people to move in next year. The Iowa Finance Authority estimates that by 2030, there will be a statewide shortage of 55-thousand rental homes for lower-income Iowans. Now, more than 20% of the lowest earners spend more than half of their income on housing.