The term “homelessness” usually conjures up the idea of having nowhere to sleep, but those without a place to stay also have nowhere to cook.
While seeking solace in a shelter is an option, not everyone who experiences homelessness goes to a shelter.
New Visions Homeless Services President and CEO Brandy Waller, third from right, shows off her organization’s new food truck to Rotary Club members outside the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center during a meeting Thursday.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
New Horizon Homeless Services recently acquired a new food truck that can help fight hunger and serve the Council Bluffs community.
“There are going to be a lot of applications,” Brandi Waller, president and CEO of New Horizons, said at the Rotary luncheon Thursday. “Someone asked me what I was going to do with this truck. I said, “What aren’t we going to do with it?”
Jared Tripp, center, and other members of the Rotary Club of Council Bluffs view the New Visions Homeless Services food truck outside the Hoff Family Center for Arts and Culture during a meeting Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The Rotary Clubs of Council Bluffs gave New Visions more than $6,000 in grant money to pay for repairs and a truck wrap.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
New Visions staff — offering prepared meals — can take the truck to places where people are living on the street, offering them food, plus pointing them to resources to get them off the street.
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The truck will also enhance the work-study program at New Visions through Iowa Western Community College’s culinary school, where students will use the truck to take their food directly to people experiencing hunger, Waller said.
Members of the Rotary Club of Council Bluffs view the New Visions Homeless Services food truck outside the Hoff Family Center for Arts and Culture during a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The Rotary Clubs of Council Bluffs gave New Visions more than $6,000 in grants to pay to repair and wrap the truck.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
It can also be used in a community crisis such as a major fire, offering food to those affected, she added.
New Visions recently acquired the used truck and received a grant of more than $6,000 from the Rotary Clubs of Council Bluffs to pay for some repairs that needed to be done, Waller said.
New Visions Homeless Services President and CEO Brandy Waller, left, shows off her organization’s new food truck outside the Hoff Family Center for Arts and Culture during a meeting Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
Waller said New Visions is up against an ever-growing challenge in Council Bluffs.
“Homelessness is at an all-time high in our city,” Waller said.
Members of the Rotary Club of Council Bluffs view the New Visions Homeless Services food truck outside the Hoff Family Center for Arts and Culture during a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The Rotary Clubs of Council Bluffs gave New Visions more than $6,000 in grants to pay to repair and wrap the truck.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
The lack of affordable housing is perhaps the root cause of this problem, she said. Any city with a rental vacancy rate below 5 percent has a serious homeless problem, she said, and Council Bluffs has a 2.1 percent vacancy rate.
Limited income, bad credit, or previous eviction can create insurmountable barriers to housing for many in the community.
New Visions Homeless Services President and CEO Brandy Waller talks about the organization’s new food truck during a Rotary Club meeting at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center during a meeting Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
Whatever the reason, people are forced to sleep in cars, overcrowded shelters or on the street, Waller said.
“People have to go somewhere,” she said.
Members of the Council Bluffs Rotary Club pose for a portrait in front of the New Visions Homeless Services food truck outside the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center during a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
JOE SHEARER, THE NEPAREIL
This is where the new food truck will launch New Horizons, waiting to offer food and support access.