Assistance

Offer free community meals, long-term life recovery program, and men’s emergency shelter.

HUD supports many organizations that provide housing assistance and/or supportive services to people.

• Homelessness
• Affordable places to live
• Home ownership
• Report housing discrimination
• Rent relief and eviction resources
• Housing Quality and Improved Living Conditions

Information on speaking to a HUD-approved Housing Counselor 

Information on having a HUD property inspected

The Giving Gardens are a collaborative effort of local organizations that aim to improve the health of Poweshiek County by providing access to fresh, local produce. During the growing season, the Giving Gardens depend on volunteers to maintain that gardens and harvest food. The harvested produce is then delivered to locations where community members can receive it, such as, MICA, UPH-GRMC Public Health, the Senior Center, Brookside Housing, and the Station Clubhouse. Area farmers and gardeners are encouraged to donate excess produce to these locations. 

Locations

• Ahrens Park Garden
  1510 Penrose
• Grinnell Community Day Care
  1436 Penrose     
• St. John’s Lutheran Church
  1224 East St.
• Fairview Elementary School
  1310 Hobart St.           
• Summer Street Park (Rotary)
  736 Summer St.        
• Davis Elementary School
  818 Hamilton
• Marvin Garden (Imagine Grinnell)
  Marvin Ave. West of Los Girasoles
• Bailey Park Elementary
  210 8th Ave. 
• Brooklyn
  Located on the South-side of town near park.

IMPACT Community Action Partnership reduces the barriers and burdens that families in poverty experience by increasing access to essential needs. Assistance may be available for food and personal hygiene, utilities (heat, water, and cooling), housing (rent, deposit, and mortgage), and emergency needs. All services are available in the office, over the phone, and by a scheduled home visit. Several programs can also be accessed via online application, email, or postal mail. See our website or contact our team by phone or email to learn more. May offer assistance with emergency applications, such as those related to flood or weather damage events. 

Housing: 

• Utilities: LIHEAP (Low Income energy assistance program) help. Heat, water, and cooling. 
• Housing: Rent, deposit, and mortgage. 
• HOME ARP funds - allow eligible individuals with housing start-up costs (application fees, deposit, rent, and utility arrears).  This program is for those who have been recently released from incarceration in the last year.
• HOME CHAMP program -  a housing assistance initiative in Iowa, a collaboration between IMPACT Community Action Partnership and Wellpoint. It provides case management and direct financial assistance for housing costs to eligible Wellpoint members in Iowa. 
• Air Conditioner/Fan Program: limited supplies

Food Cards: IMPACT Resource Centers located in counties where we do not have a food pantry (Jasper, Marion, and Warren) offer limited access to food cards for local grocery stores. Please call 515-518-4770 to check on the availability of the cards.

RAYS Scholarship: for eligible low-income students to participate in sports, band, dance, etc.

Explore everything you need for homeownership assistance, rental programs, and community support under one roof.

At the Iowa Finance Authority, we turn small actions into big reactions. From mortgages and rental programs to beginning farmers -- we impact all Iowans.

See website for current resources, as of 9/19/2025 (programs are subject to change based on funding). 

• Business (click tab on website) 
• Beginning Farmers Programs
• Homelessness Programs
• Homeownership Programs
• Iowa Housing Search
• Iowa Title Guaranty Programs
• Renter and Rental Programs
• Water Quality Programs

IHRC works to create health equity in Iowa communities through advocacy, education, and drug user health services.

We are committed to building power among people impacted by the war on drugs, including people who use drugs and communities of color; committed to acceptance of stigmatized and minoritized peoples and people who use drugs; and committed to dismantling systems of race, class, and gender-based privilege.

Health & Social Services

Using a drug user health framework, IHRC provides comprehensive health and social services to people who use or inject drugs.

Services prioritize the unique health concerns of people who use drugs, including overdose prevention, prevention of disease transmission, treatment for substance use dependency, and homelessness. IHRC utilizes a harm reduction model and meets participants literally where they're at, offering services in multiple low-barrier settings, including home deliveries, mobile outreach, and office-based services.

IHRC offers services in four metro areas and 23 of Iowa's 99 counties. We are consistently expanding our services and service area, and we offer groups of individuals the opportunity to bring harm reduction services to their community by implementing chapters of the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition.

IHRC's service portfolio can be divided into two programmatic areas: overdose & infectious disease. All services offered are centered on the prevention and treatment of overdose and infectious disease. With regards to overdose, services include overdose prevention training, naloxone distribution, intensive patient navigation for linkage to care, and engagement in peer recovery support services. With regards to infectious disease, services include counselling, education, and distribution of materials for the prevention of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections associated with drug use (emphasizing HIV, hepatitis C, abscess, bacteremia, and endocarditis); HIV and hepatitis C testing; wound care; and patient navigation and intensive case management for linkage to care for hepatitis C.

Risk Reduction Kits
We offer safer injection and risk reduction kits, which include cottons, cookers, ties, sterile water, antibiotic wipes, vitamin C, band-aids, and condoms. By improving access to these materials, we help people who inject heroin, meth, and other drugs reduce their risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C.

Naloxone Kits
Naloxone is the life-saving medication used to reverse an opioid overdose and is also commonly known as Narcan. We provide free naloxone kits and training on naloxone use to individuals, families, and organizations, and do not require a prescription or insurance.

Syringe Clean Up
Used syringes are often found in public spaces and construction sites throughout Eastern Iowa. We provide free syringe clean up and disposal of sharps upon request via our hotline, (319) 214-0540.

HIV/HCV Rapid Testing
IHRC provides free HIV and hepatitis C rapid testing. Tests can be administered anywhere, anytime, and are available at IHRC’s office, via outreach locations, or can take place in an individual’s home.

Hotline
We operate a 24-hour hotline to answer questions related to safer injection, vein health, and wound care. We also schedule supply mailings, deliveries, and drop-offs through this number.

To schedule or request a supply mailing or delivery in Iowa City or Cedar Rapids, please call (319) 214-0540. For access in Des Moines & Central Rapids, please call (515) 957-1252. Please note that we are unable to provide comprehensive medical advice through this hotline. In case of an emergency, please call 911.

Fentanyl Test Strips
Because fentanyl increases the risk of overdose when present in heroin, meth, and cocaine, we provide drug testing materials that allow participants to test their drugs. Drug testing allows individuals to make informed decisions about their use and to reduce the risk of overdose.

Linkage to Housing & Homelessness Services
For individuals experiencing homelessness, we provide linkage to supportive services and rapid re-housing programs.

Linkage to Substance Use & Drug Treatment
Because treatment can be difficult to access in Iowa, we work with individuals to help them gain access to local methadone and suboxone treatment programs, also known as MAT, for opiate dependency.

Patient Navigation for Hepatitis C
We provide linkage into care and patient navigation services for individuals living with hepatitis C. Because receiving curative hepatitis C treatment is a complicated process, we offer patient navigation services primarily for individuals enrolled in IA Medicaid.

Virtual Overdose Prevention Site
For people using drugs by themselves, IHRC offers a courtesy call or safety check system. Send a text message with your address and location to our anonymous hotline (319-214-0540) and request a safety check within a certain number of minutes. If you do not answer a phone call at that time, we will alert emergency medical services. If you’d like someone to stay on the phone with you, you may call the number above.

Rural Naloxone Access
IHRC mails naloxone around Iowa through the national naloxone mailing system, NEXT naloxone. Request a kit through NEXT, our website, or our hotline. IHRC also provides naloxone training to farmers, agricultural workers, and people working in Iowa feedlots to expand overdose prevention to rural communities in our state.

Sex Worker Support
IHRC provides outreach services to people engaging in club-based and full-service sex work. Services include access to condoms & lube, Narcan distribution to local clubs, and non-judgmental and confidential counseling. Have a bad date? Call or text IHRC to help us share information about bad dates to keep others in the sex work community safe.

Reserve a free prepared meal to pick up on Saturdays at 834 Park Street. Call by 12 pm on Saturday to reserve a meal, or by 12 pm on Friday to request a vegetarian meal.

The Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative hosts trainings on a regular basis for substance use, mental health, and family support

Website for employment. Looking for a job or need to post a position? 

Offers recipes that are low-cost and nutritious.

Purchases local food for low-income residents of the Grinnell community through the form of CSA shares, farmers’ market credits, and bulk deliveries to agency partners.

Helps low-income families and individuals pay their heating bills through energy assistance grants. The grant results in a one-time payment for an eligible household’s heating costs.

Helps connect people to prescription assistance programs.

Iowa’s 1st Five Healthy Mental Development Initiative builds partnerships between physician practices and public service providers to enhance high-quality well-child care. 1st Five promotes the use of standardized developmental screening tools that support healthy mental development for young children.

By using a standardized tool for all children, providers are able to identify children at-risk for developmental concerns, and link those children and their families with community-based resources to improve access to appropriate follow-up care. Primary care providers play a key role in supporting optimal healthy mental development in children. Therefore, primary care providers can play a critical role in providing developmental screenings.

Services Offered: 

• Mobile Crisis Response Team: serves 18 counties, including Jasper County. Eyerly Ball offers a 24/7 Mobile Crisis Response Team for 18 counties. The Mobile Crisis Response Team is an active part of a state-wide crisis system of prevention, response and postvention services, responding immediately to crisis events and providing postvention follow-up services to all clients.
• Children's Behavioral Health
• Counseling and Outpatient Therapy
• Community Support Services
• Urgent Behavioral Health Care
• Integrated Services Project
• Residential Services
• RESTORE First Episode Psychosis Program  Ages 15-40
• Substance Use Services
• Substance use evaluations, treatment, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), Group settings treatment offerings (Ames and Penn Ave)

How to Access Services

To access the Mobile Crisis Response Team, anyone within the 18-county region may call the Crisis Center at 1-855-581-8111. The service is available to all ages. Anyone experiencing a crisis can access the crisis line, whether it is adolescent behavioral issues, depression, anxiety, substance use, suicidal thoughts and everything in between. Trained phone responders will assess the situation and deploy the Mobile Crisis Response Team if an in-person response is deemed to be necessary or helpful.

A trained two-person team will leave as soon as they have been dispatched and will respond to the scene within 60 minutes. Once onsite, the on-call counselors are able to perform crisis assessments and will take the necessary time with the client to:

• Determine if suicidal or homicidal ideations are present
• Determine if de-escalation and stabilization in the field are possible
• Complete a thorough safety plan with the client if they are willing to contract for safety in that moment

If transportation is necessary to ensure client safety, on-call counselors will transport voluntary clients ages 12 and above (with the presence of a parent or guardian for children and dependent adults).

Within 24 hours of the end of the crisis interaction, a case manager will attempt to make contact with the client and is available to provide up to 30 days of case management services. Case management can coordinate appointments, provide transportation for appointments and provide reassurance to clients.

Crisis Stabilization Community-Based Services

Crisis Stabilization Community-Based Services (CSCBS) are short-term services designed to de-escalate an individual experiencing a mental health crisis and stabilize them where the individual lives, works, attends school, or socializes. CSCBS is a voluntary service for individuals in need of a safe, secure location that is less intensive and restrictive than an inpatient hospital. The goal of CSCBS is to stabilize the individual within the community.
Services provided through Crisis Stabilization Community-Based Services include, but are not limited to:

• Psychiatric services and assessment
• Medication management
• Counseling
• Referral to additional Eyerly Ball programs
• Peer support
• Connection to ongoing services and resources

Crisis Stabilization Community-Based Services are offered to individuals who have utilized the Mobile Crisis Response Team in one of the eighteen counties listed above.

Local churches working together to meet needs of community residents. Community needs fund is for emergency need and crisis situation and not for negligence, irresponsibility, or repeated use throughout the year.

Find help with the cost of medicine.

Laundry program through Capstone Connection who meet certain criteria.  If you have laundry detergent containers with a screw top lid for donation, please drop them off at the Pregnancy Center. 

Registration required for 6 restaurant meals per month, must be aged 60+. 

Call 800-779-8707, option 3, and ask about "Iowa Cafe" to sign up or leave a message.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

• STD testing and treatment for ages 13 and up
• STD, Rapid HIV, Hepatitis C Testing
• Rapid HIV test results will be available within 1 hour

Call (515) 286-3798 at 8:00 AM Monday through Friday for a same day appointment.   

Walk-in lab only STD testing

Individuals who are not experiencing symptoms and who have not been identified as a contact to a positive STD case can do a walk-in lab only STD test.

Testing available during walk-in lab only STD visit:

• HIV (Blood)
• Syphilis (Blood)
• Trichomoniasis (Urine)
• Chlamydia (Urine/Throat/Rectal)
• Gonorrhea (Urine/Throat/Rectal)

Postpartum Support Group: A free group focused on caregivers and their infant(s) newborn to one year of age, Baby weight checks, breast and bottle feeding guidance, professional and peer support, come and go setting, light refreshments provided. Meetings are on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month in the Tomasek Conference Room from 5-6:30 PM. For information call 641-236-2905.

General assistance with rent, utilities, burial/cremation assistance.

West Side Entrance.

Project Recovery Iowa helps individuals, families, and their communities in recovering from the challenging effects of natural and human-caused disasters through the provision of community-based outreach and educational services. 

Project Recovery Iowa Services

Project Recovery Iowa offers services to individuals, families, and communities affected by disaster, whether it be a natural or man-made event.

Services include:

• Individual and group counseling
• Basic supportive or educational contact
• Community networking and support
• Assessments, referrals, and resources

The Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services (BRS) is a federally funded office of the Iowa Department of Human Services and is charged with supporting the resettlement of refugees in Iowa. BRS works with a network of resettlement agencies (RA) across Iowa who do the bulk of the direct resettlement work with refugees.

Our home furnishings include furniture for all of your rooms, lamps, and much more. Look at our "Request Furnishings" page today for more information and to request furnishings.

Iowa HHS’ Rent Reimbursement is a statewide program that gives partial rent refunds to low-income Iowans who are ages 65 and older or are disabled adults.

Provide low-cost pharmaceutical access to our most vulnerable populations while generating significant cost savings across health systems.

This is a IHHS program. MICA can give families the application forms for this and other IHHS programs. The Grinnell Farmer’s Market accepts SNAP payments.

MICA (Mid-Iowa Community Action)

Also social media directory for State of Iowa

Financial assistance for groceries, taxes services, utilities and medical services for income-eligible Grinnell residents. Financial assistance available for healthcare bills, utilities, transportation, and more Apply at in-person at Grinnell City Offices. Must live in Grinnell to be eligible Call (641) 236-2600 between 7:30am – 4:30pm Monday through Friday.

The mission of the CFSPH is to increase national and international preparedness for accidental or intentional introduction of diseases that threaten food production or public health.

International travel increases your chances of getting and spreading diseases that are rare or not found in the United States. Find out which travel vaccines you may need to help you stay healthy on your trip.

Check needed immunizations:

If you are traveling out of the United States, you can check recommended vaccines on the following sites: 

1. CDC   Website: CDC Travel destination  1-800-232-4636 or 800-CDC-INFO
2. TripPrep.com TripPrep  

Locations near Jasper County that offer Travel Medicine Clinics: 

1. Iowa Clinic Travel Medicine Website: Iowa Clinic Travel Clinic Telephone: 515-875-9190  Location: Urbandale 
2. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics  Website: UIHC Travel Clinic Telephone 319-356-8133 Location: Iowa City
3. Polk County Health Department  Website: Polk County Travel Clinic- Immunizations  Telephone: 515-286-3798 Location: Des Moines
4. McFarland International Travel Clinic Website:  Travel Clinic Telephone 515-663-4892 Location: Ames

Please check with your pharmacy or medical providers. Jasper County Health Department does not offer privately paid vaccines.

Our mission at UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is to provide medical grants that enhance the quality of life for children across the United States. These grants give kids the care they need by helping with medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by their family’s commercial health insurance. 

The agency’s direct and guaranteed rural credit programs help families find affordable housing, and assist. businesses, and allow communities to build or improve facilities. It is in the Iowa Rural Development State Office in Des Moines, Iowa.

Housing repair loan and grant programs. https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-repair-loans-grants.

Poweshiek County ISU Extension & Outreach. Call for an appointment in February or March.

For children 0-5 years old and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or just had a baby. This program provides nutritional education and checks to families to purchase baby formula, milk, eggs, & other healthy foods.

The Young Women’s Resource Center provides a broad range of perinatal services for pregnant and parenting young women through the age of 24. At a time when young women can feel most alone or in need of help, the Young Women’s Resource Center can provide comfort and stability through its programs, resources, and groups. These programs are designed to equip the young mom or expecting mom with the skills to address the challenges of parenting so they can focus on its joys.

The Young Women’s Resource Center is not a medical provider, and we do not offer medical services. The YWRC is a private, independent organization and is not affiliated with any other organizations.

YPN was founded in 1985 by community leaders who recognized that there was a lack of support for young families in Cedar Rapids. Since that time YPN has taken on a leadership role in East Central Iowa as the provider of ongoing comprehensive year round programs that meet the most critical needs of thousands of families within our community.

Extended Reach Programming
YPN is proud to partner with other organizations and school systems to administer programming and share resources to further serve families community-wide in Eastern Iowa.

Home Visits
YPN offers Parents as Teachers Home Visits to extend prenatal and parenting skills.

Tools for Parents
YPN offers additional curriculum-based training opportunities to parents.

Literacy Initiatives
Literacy programming works to build literacy skills by offering parent and child reading activities.

Multi-Lingual Services
Ongoing opportunities for our communities’ growing diverse populations.

YouthPort
YouthPort combines resources to offers services to area youth.

YSS – Youth & Shelter Services – Youth Recovery House, located in Ames, Iowa, is a non-profit alcohol and drug rehab that offers treatment for a variety of substance abuse addictions, including alcoholism, co-occurring mental health disorders, and opiate addiction. They offer residential care, providing long-term support for addiction recovery. Additional levels of care offered include relapse prevention, recovery housing, and 12-step therapy.

Specialty rehab programs at YSS – Youth & Shelter Services – Youth Recovery House include gender-specific addiction treatment addressing unique challenges faced by men and age-appropriate treatment for teens addressing adolescent-specific issues.

Patients at YSS – Youth & Shelter Services – Youth Recovery House will find the residential setting creates an immersive environment promoting full engagement in recovery away from daily triggers. For recreation, patients can unwind in the rec room after a lengthy day of therapy, use the meditation room to promote mindfulness during recovery, or continue education during recovery with the day school.

YSS – Youth & Shelter Services – Youth Recovery House has received accreditations from CARF.