(Council Bluffs) The Iowa West Foundation recently awarded $2.7 million in grants and initiatives.
Brenda Mainwaring, President & CEO of Iowa West Foundation, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that a lot of the awards went to address housing and financial stability, and workforce training.
Mainwaring said they also scholar-shipped several communities for the Iowa Rural Summit.
The 2026 Cycle 1 Grants & Initiatives include:
ASPIRE
AHSTW Community School District
Work-based learning
$25,000
Career EdVantage
Rural Pottawattamie County Program Support
$200,500
Council Bluffs Community School District
Plus One Pathways Program
$325,000
Iowa Western Community College
College and Career Transition Counselors
$126,000
Lewis Central Community School District
College and Career Readiness Coordinator
$100,000
Riverside Community School District
iJAG Program (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates)
$25,000
Treynor Community School District
Career Coach
$25,000
Tri-Center Community School District
iJAG Program (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates)
$25,000
Other
Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands
Council Bluffs club operations
$95,000
Bridges Out of Poverty
Southwest Iowa poverty alleviation initiative
$90,000
Catholic Charities Diocese of Des Moines
Domestic violence & sexual assault support program
$60,000
Center Against Abuse & Sexual Assault
Emergency Housing Assistance
$5,000
City of Northboro
Nuisance Property Remediation
$6,300
Family Housing Advisory Services
Housing stability counseling and case management
$30,000
Four County Fair Association
Cooler expansion
$27,500
Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development
Capacity Building
$10,000
Heartland Family Service
Permanent supportive housing
$200,000
Horses Help Southwest Iowa
Summer Programming for Area Youth
$1,725
Iowa Legal Aid
Eviction prevention
$75,000
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
Addition to Vincent Bluffs State Preserve
$378,000
Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital Foundation
First Responder Community Health Coach support
$9,437
La Fuente
Financial stability for Latinos in southwest Iowa
$30,000
Micah House
Emergency shelter for women and families
$85,000
Minden Volunteer Fire & Rescue
Equipment and gear
$9,977
National Inventors Hall of Fame
Camp Invention for Western Iowa youth
$11,400
Omaha Children’s Museum
Field trips, family nights, school visits and discounted memberships for southwest Iowans
$35,000
Pottawattamie Arts, Culture, & Entertainment
General operating funding for building maintenance
$200,000
Prairie Rivers of Iowa Resource Conservation & Development
Scenic Byway Kiosk in Logan
$3,000
Project Harmony
Safe & Together Southwest Iowa training
$24,586
Scholarships to the Iowa Rural Summit
Support for rural communities and organizations
$8,750
Shenandoah Public Library Foundation
Digital community sign
$10,000
Southwest Iowa Leadership Academy
Leadership Camp 2026
$7,500
Spark Capital
Developer Academy – Council Bluffs
$25,000
Stanton Volunteer Fire & Rescue
Bunker Gear & Dual Certified Gear
$4,000
Together Inc.
Housing Stability Fund
$250,000
United Way of the Midlands
Community campaign for Southwest Iowa nonprofits
$200,000
