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 Body • Recruitment • Governing Documents/Policies & Annual Reports
Governing Body
-
Ben Brustkern
Board Chair
Executive Director
Friends of the Family
WaterlooTerm 2023-2026
-
Luke Barongan
Board Vice-Chair, Chair of Membership, Co-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 -
Crissy Canganelli
Co-Chair of Strategic Planning
Executive Director
Shelter House
Iowa CityTerm 2023-2026
-
Darlene Terrill
Regional Administrator Iowa/Minnesota
WestCare Iowa Family Alliance for Veterans of America
Forest CityTerm: 2022-2025
-
Hope Metheny
Major Grants Director/Transitional Housing Programs Director
Youth & Shelter Services
AmesTerm: 2024-2027
-
Jan Heidemann
Operations Coordinator
MHDS of East Central Region
Waverly
Term 2024-2027 -
Jeannette Archer-Simons
Co-Chair of Grant Competition Task Group
Housing & Homeless Services Advocate Cedar Rapids
Term 2023-2026
-
Jeremy Mask
Director of Care Navigation & Recovery Services
Area Substance Abuse Council
Cedar RapidsTerm: 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 & Annual Reports
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.
-
Use the links below to access the governing documents and policies of the IA BoS CoC:
-
2024 Annual Report- coming soon.