Board of Directors

The Iowa Balance of State Continuum of Care (IA BoS CoC) Governing Body serves as the primary decision-making body for the Continuum of Care and helps guide efforts to prevent and end homelessness. Made up of 11-15 individuals from across the Balance of State’s geographic area and across the spectrum of services, this group hosts public meetings on the second Thursday of the month.

Table of Contents

See information on our Board of Directors, Recruitment, & Governing Documents.

Governing BodyRecruitmentGoverning Documents & Policies

Governing Body

  • Ben Brustkern

    Board Chair

    Executive Director
    Friends of the Family
    Waterloo

    Term 2023-2026

  • Luke Barongan

    Board Vice-Chair

    Chair of Data-HMIS
    Housing & Homeless Services Advocate
    Winterset

    Term 2023-2026

  • Abbey Ferenzi


    Executive Director
    GuideLink Center- UnityPoint AbbeHealth
    Iowa City/Cedar Rapids


    Term: 2024-2027

  • April Wacht



    Housing & Homeless
    Services Advocate
    Fort Dodge

    Term: 2024-2025

  • Cassie Gerst

    Co-Chair Grant Competition

    Supervisor of Grants & Community Outreach
    Burlington Community School District
    Burlington

    Term 2023-2026

  • Crissy Canganelli

    Co-Chair of Strategic Planning

    Executive Director
    Shelter House
    Iowa City

    Term 2023-2026

  • Darlene Terrill


    Regional Administrator Iowa/Minnesota WestCare Iowa Family Alliance for Veterans of America
    Forest City

    Term: 2022-2025

  • Hope Metheny


    Major Grants Director/Transitional Housing Programs Director
    Youth & Shelter Services
    Ames

    Term: 2024-2027

  • Jan Heidemann

    Operations Coordinator
    MHDS of East Central Region
    Waverly




    Term 2024-2027

  • Jeannette Archer-Simons

    Housing & Homeless Services Advocate Cedar Rapids



    Term 2023-2026

  • Jeremy Mask


    Director of Care Navigation & Recovery Services
    Area Substance Abuse Council
    Cedar Rapids


    Term: 2024-2025

  • Linda Munden

    Chair- Coordinated Service Regions

    Senior Executive Director
    The Bridge Home
    Ames



    Term: 2024-2027

  • Sarah Whitmore

    Social Worker
    Iowa City Veteran Affairs
    Cedar Rapids


    Term: 2024-2027

  • Stephanie Pickinpaugh

    Co-Chair of Equity & Diversity

    Executive Director
    SafePlace
    Sioux City

    Term: 2023-2026

  • Tamara Nunez


    HCV Reengagement Specialist
    NuCara Capacity Extension, Bureau of HIV, STI, Iowa Department of Health & Human Services
    Burlington


    Term: 2023-2025


Recruitment

To ensure cohesion and promote efficiency, the Iowa Balance of State CoC Board consists of 11 - 15 voting members. The Board is representative of the relevant community partners involved in preventing and ending homelessness within the CoC and includes at least one homeless or formerly homeless individual. Given the broad geographic area of the Balance of State CoC, special attention is paid to ensure that Board membership includes community partners from across Iowa. Seats on the CoC Board are reserved, as follows: 

  • Homeless or Formerly Homeless Individual (1 seat) 

  • Government (up to 2 seats)

  • Subpopulations

    • Veterans (1 seat)

    • Youth (1 seat)

    • Survivors of Domestic Violence (1 seat) 

    • LGBT (1 seat) 

  • Health and/or Disability Services (1 seat)

  • Mental Health (1 seat)

  • Substance Abuse (1 seat) 

  • Education (1 seat) 

  • Criminal Justice (1 seat) 

  • Other funders (up to 2 seats) 

  • Faith-based community (1 seat)  

  • An open invitation for Board membership is done annually to prepare to fill terms set to expire in March for an April 1st term start date. Applications are not currently being accepted.

    • We respectively request any Board member, Task Group members, or CoC Volunteer document their donated time with the Continuum of Care to assist in showing the match our CoC is investing into this work. Requests from Board & Task Group members will be done monthly. If you have any questions please reach out to Courtney Guntly. See the recruitment forms and in-kind information by using the links below in the drop down folders.


“Who are we as human beings if we ignore the suffering of others?” – Anonymous

Governing Documents & Policies

Review the CoC Governing Documents by using the links in the drop down folder below. Please note that all CoC governing documents and policies are reviewed annually and updated with the appropriate revisions.