A yearly tradition of generous gift-giving by Des Moines Register readers has resulted in a final fundraising total of $353,387.60, ready to be dispersed to worthy low-income applicants across all 99 Iowa counties.
Known as Embrace Iowa, the annual charitable program is overseen by the Iowa Community Action Association and administered by 16 agencies that welcome, without judgment, individuals and families who might benefit from individual grants valued up to $750.
After a short two-month campaign, the 2025-’26 Embrace Iowa drive ended in January, receiving funds from 880 donors, and is now on target to make a difference in as many as 471 households.
Anne Bacon is the chief executive officer of IMPACT Community Action Partnership, the local agency that administers applications across Boone, Jasper, Marion, Polk and Warren counties.
“We love Embrace Iowa. Embrace creates a situation to address needs we wouldn’t be able to in any other way,” she said. “We’ve never had a problem with finding the people in need. It’s finding those warm-hearted, generous folks to help us.”
Separate from any federal or state programs, each agency uses its discretion and local knowledge to dispense grants to aid with very specific economic difficulties.
Bacon has discovered that her agency can make a meaningful difference with a focus on an essential, but unexpected hardship.
“There are no other resources to assist people when they can’t pay their water bill,” she explained. “We saw the need over and over and over again of families who were struggling with those bills, and so we can focus those Embrace dollars there, whereas other agencies might see other things that they would like to focus on.”
This year, portions of the money raised will provide relief for a broad range of problems, including paying overdue rent and utility bills, medical expenses, funding essential vehicle repairs, and enabling further education.
“It’s no easy task in our culture to ask for help or to need help or to appear like you can’t take care of yourself,” Bacon added. “The best thing our staff can do is make it so that people leave feeling better than when they walk in and not worry.”
The partnership with the Des Moines Register is now in its fourth decade and continues its support of a bureaucracy-free process, designed to simplify the grant-receiving process and pinpoint immediate needs with practical solutions.
“There’s not a lot of hoops that we make people jump through,” Bacon said. “One of the things our agencies love about Embrace is that it’s not heavy-handed in compliance or paperwork. It’s a pretty rapid response vehicle for assistance.”
To discourage any fraud, financial relief is available to any Iowa resident who can demonstrate a gross annual income of 200% or less than the federal poverty guidelines. And all money is distributed directly to third-party creditors, like landlords, doctors’ offices, and home repair contractors. None of the $750 is deposited into an applicant’s bank account.
“When we can keep someone’s water on, or keep their car running, or make sure their children have a bed — those are joyful moments,” Bacon said. “But we always run out of money. And at some point, we have to tell people, ‘No.’ And those are the most heartbreaking stories, of folks who could really use the assistance.”
During the most recent fund-raising campaign, Iowans shared their diverse and personal stories with the Register and their experiences as first-time applicants.
Jennifer Hunter was able to fix her furnace, relieve one pressing financial burden and help place her life back on track.
Mother of two Adessa Mier urgently turned to the program to repair her family’s only means of transport.
Embrace Iowa made all the difference between the demise of Katisha Knight’s small business dreams and helping her new company grow.
And dangerous electrical circuits put Diane Ohrtman’s house at serious risk until the project funded a timely overhaul of the home’s wiring and fuse box.
“We do assist single-person households, but the vast majority of families we help have multiple children and other household members. And so, these dollars touch hundreds and hundreds of people’s lives,” Bacon said.
How you can help
The 2025-’26 campaign has ended, but the crucial work of the Embrace Iowa program continues, reliant on the donations of Des Moines Register readers. Funds are collected throughout the year, with every cent allocated to helping Iowans, and none of the funding is diverted to paying for staff or administration costs.
“There is no donation that’s too small,” Bacon concluded. “What we want is for people to remember that all year long we have people in central Iowa struggling, and that every time one of our neighbors decides to invest in Embrace Iowa, they’re helping another one of their neighbors.”
Tax-deductible pledges can be made online at secure.qgiv.com/for/embrace26-27. Checks can also be mailed and are warmly received at Embrace Iowa, P.O. Box 10611, Cedar Rapids, IA 52410-0611.
Richard Lane is a freelance writer based in Des Moines.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Embrace Iowa raises over $353,000 to help families across the state
Reporting by Richard Lane, Special to the Register / Des Moines Register
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