(DES MOINES) The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Board of Directors recently announced the award of a total of more than $12.5 million in grants to 27 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local housing initiatives. The grant awards are made available through the Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF) program and are expected to assist 2,636 families across all 99 Iowa counties. In southwest Iowa:

• The Council of Governments (COG) )serving Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Green, Guthrie and Sac Counties) received a grant for $409,334.
• The Pottawattamie County Housing Trust Fund (Serving Pott. County), received a grant for nearly $1.17-million.
• The Southern Iowa COG Housing Trust Fund (serving Adair, Adams, Madison, Ringgold, Taylor, Union and two other counties) received an LHTF grant for $400, 676.
• The Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund (Serving Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page and Shelby Counties) received a grant amounting to $437, 170.

IFA Director Debi Durham says “The 2025 Local Housing Trust Fund grant awards represent the largest investment ever made through the program in a single year. These grants will support housing initiatives that provide thousands of Iowans with safe, affordable homes, creating lasting benefits for communities across the state for years to come.”

The grant funds will support a range of initiatives aimed at developing or preserving housing for low-income households across the spectrum of housing needs. This includes the development and preservation of housing, assistance for persons experiencing homelessness, rental assistance, home ownership support, bolstering the capacity of local housing organizations and other efforts that directly address local housing needs.

The State Housing Trust Fund was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2003. The awards announced today (Friday) will leverage an additional $4 million in other financing or $.32 for every dollar of Local Housing Trust Fund program funding. Since its inception, the State Housing Trust Fund has provided $136.3 million in affordable housing assistance to benefit more than 40,700 Iowa families, leveraging nearly $187 million in other funding resources. The State Housing Trust Fund helps ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs. The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the SHTF allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by IFA as a Local Housing Trust Fund.

The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. IFA administers both programs and provides technical assistance to housing-related organizations. The award list is available here.