Blog

130 years ago, Waypoint started as Cedar Rapids’ chapter of the Young Women Christian’s Association (YWCA). In going over our history, it feels like we’ve been on the same journey of inspiring people to move forward in times of change since our inception. That has always been our central purpose, the foundation that has been our true north as we grew to become the Waypoint we are today...

With the holiday season wrapped up and a new year underway, let’s get some updates from our fabulous CEO, Jaye Kennedy.

Over the past five years, we have seen tremendous growth within our Housing Services and the number of individuals served has increased by more than 10,000 individuals. With this increase in services comes the need to clarify with our community what services we are providing, why some of them are changing, and how we are keeping these changes centered on Housing First practices.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. To explain what it’s like to provide domestic violence support, who better to hear it from other than one of our Advocates? Lisa has been a Waypoint Domestic Violence Victim Advocate in the Black Hawk County area for the past 10+ years. Here are some of her answers to questions about working with victim of domestic violence and what her typical day looks like as an Advocate.

In looking back over the number of individuals Waypoint served last fiscal year, I feel it’s time to look at what the year has meant for us as a whole.

In light of local conditions, the pandemic, aftermath of the Derecho, and economy, Waypoint’s Housing Services are in historically high demand with the community seeing the number of households experiencing homelessness or a housing crisis over triple the past few years.

My time at Waypoint allowed me to learn and grow both personally and professionally. I was given so many opportunities that fostered my exploration, education, and experiences.

My name is Jennifer, and I started interning at Waypoint at the beginning of my senior year at the University of Iowa. At the time, I knew I wanted to focus on digital marketing and/or graphic design, but I also wanted to feel like I was giving back to the community while having control over projects that potentially could be assigned to me. Waypoint offered me an opportunity to learn and grow, but also to be independent.

Learn about our Survivors' Program staff and the difference they make.

Waypoint and KidsPoint strive to be a Trauma Informed Care (TIC) organization. Being a TIC organization means we...