NLIHC’s partner on Our Homes, Our Votes 2020 the Polk Country Housing Trust Fund and our Our Homes, Our Votes, Our Iowa project partnered with Habitat for Humanity on two “Women Build” events on July 31 and August 3, during which volunteers helped rehab a home in Des Moines, IA. The staff of several 2020 presidential candidates, including those of Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, participated and saw firsthand the importance of safe, accessible, and affordable housing. While initially planned as a single-day event, the build was so popular the organizers added a second day.
Candidates and their staff are increasingly looking for volunteer opportunities as ways to connect with communities. Staffers from Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign spent their “National Day of Service” at the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus in Des Moines serving meals to residents and sorting clothes and other items in their pantry.
To learn more about Our Homes, Our Votes, Our Iowa and volunteer opportunities and other engagements with presidential candidates, be sure to check out NLIHC’s July 31 webinar on Our Homes, Our Votes 2020 (see related article in this Memo to Members and Partners) or visit: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/iowa