More than a place to stay. A space to bloom.
Since 1980, The Beacon has walked alongside women in crisis in Des Moines. We provide safe housing, trauma-informed support, and the time it takes to build lasting change. This is not short-term help. It is long-term change.
66
Women housed each night
100%
Of graduates move into permanent housing
1980
Founded in Des Moines, walking alongside women ever since
Who we are
The Beacon, legally Beacon of Life, was founded in 1980. Over four decades we grew from a women's shelter into a trauma-informed recovery and supportive housing organization, and became the first NARR-certified recovery residence in Iowa.
Women in Central Iowa facing homelessness, domestic violence, substance use recovery, and trauma meet a severe shortage of safe, sober, long-term housing. The Beacon fills the gap between crisis and independence with safety, structure, and accountability, then the time and community it takes to rebuild. Structured, never punitive. Always with dignity.
Our mission, since 1980
Creating an environment that empowers women in crisis to achieve positive, lasting change.
Because she matters.
Peer-supported and non-clinical. Residents keep their own counselor, doctor, and treatment providers, and every pathway to recovery is honored.
Our approach · the wellness model
Every woman's plan is built on SAMHSA's Eight Dimensions of Wellness. It is the spine of the program, so progress in one area never hides a gap in another.
Weekly case management, coping skills, and support for her mental health.
Sobriety, sleep, nutrition, insurance, and a primary care and women's health provider.
Employment readiness, verified income, and support from Dress for Success.
Monthly financial coaching, a bank account, budgeting, and a savings ladder to $600.
Digital and financial literacy, classes, and job training.
A house community, weekly meetings, peer mentoring, and Saturday Night Socials.
Meaning, values, and purpose, however each woman defines them.
A safe, substance-free home today, and a signed lease of her own at graduation.
Our programs
A full continuum, from structured recovery housing to permanent affordable housing to years of support after graduation. It meets a woman where she is.
Shared, structured recovery housing for women rebuilding after homelessness, incarceration, domestic violence, or substance use. Six phases, weekly case management, and a community of women doing the same work.
34 beds · 6 to 24 months · NARR certified
Learn more →
32 studio apartments of permanent, affordable recovery housing, the first NARR apartment community of its kind in the U.S. Her own lease and her own key, with a Case Manager and a community still beside her.
32 studios · $690 to $900 a month, utilities included
Learn more →
Graduates keep monthly support for up to three years after they leave. The Bridges to Stability Program lets mothers regaining custody keep their place in the program while living with their children.
71 graduates supported today
Learn more →The investment
A woman at Sherman Hill pays her own $105 weekly program fee from income she earns while she is here. She leaves with a job, savings, health insurance, a doctor, and a signed lease. Structured, trauma-informed support is both more humane and more cost-effective than a cycle of crisis.
Give monthly →Cost per day, per woman
$26
The Beacon
A safe home, case management, and the support to rebuild
Cost per day, per woman
$108
Iowa's prison for women
Does not address trauma or recovery
Incarceration cost: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women at Mitchellville, Iowa Auditor of State, FY2023.
Her words
“
It's affordable, but it's not affordable housing. It's something more. It's safe. I feel safe for the first time in a really long time. I know my ex can't come here. I know nobody will try to give me drugs here. And I know I've got a team now.
Beacon Village Resident, 2025
She is not starting over. She is moving forward.
Read more stories →The need in Central Iowa
More than 300 women are waiting for a place in our homes tonight. They called friends, family, and other homes for women. Many doors were closed. Then they called us.
The women we walk alongside carry overlapping barriers. Our work is to provide safety, dignity, structure, and support, then the time it takes to rebuild. We do not define them by their past.
Help open another door →Who we walk alongside
100%
Have experienced homelessness
86%
Have experienced substance use disorder
80%
Are mothers
72%
Are survivors of domestic violence
Figures as of May 2026.
Be part of the change
Whether your gift is monthly, a Saturday morning, or a referral, every contribution becomes part of the home a woman walks into.
For supporters
$26 provides one full day of housing, support, and stability for a woman at The Beacon. Join the 26 for Her circle of monthly donors.
$26 a month · one day of support
$182 a month · a full week
$780 a month · a full month
For neighbors
Bring your time, your skills, or your team. Volunteers bake the birthday cake every woman receives, and keep the home running.
Group volunteer days
Skills-based partnerships
Birthday cakes and Cake Gala
For her
For adult women, and those who identify as female, who are ready to build something different. Apply for yourself, or help someone you support apply.
For women ready to apply
For caseworkers and shelters
For family supporting a loved one
