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Be part of the change
Structured, trauma-informed support is both more humane and more cost-effective than a cycle of crisis. Every gift becomes part of the home a woman walks into, and the life she builds after.
The math of a door that stays open
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. Then we stay with her for three more years.
Incarceration costs: Iowa Auditor of State, year ended June 30, 2023, Iowa Correctional Institution for Women at Mitchellville.
Daily program cost at The Beacon
$26
Average cost of housing and support per woman
Daily cost in prison
$108
Does not address trauma or recovery
Her program fee for a year
$5,460
$105 a week, paid by her from income she earns
One year at Mitchellville
$39,554
Paid by the public, per woman
Ways to give
Monthly gifts fund steady, long-term change rather than emergency response. That consistency is the point.
26 for Her · monthly giving
$26 provides one full day of housing, support, and stability for a woman at The Beacon. Join the circle of monthly donors.
$26 a month · one day of support
$182 a month · a full week
$780 a month · a full month
One-time and in-kind
A one-time gift, or goods from our wish list. Every contribution meets a real need inside the home.
One-time gifts of any size
Furniture and household items
Wish-list items for move-in
Stock, planned and corporate
Gifts of stock, planned and legacy giving, the endowment fund, and corporate sponsorship build the infrastructure that makes everything else possible.
Endowment fund contributions
Planned and legacy gifts
Sponsorships from $1,000
Real results, lasting change
✓ A signed lease or verified stable housing
✓ Legal, sustainable income
✓ $600 in savings and an active bank account
✓ Health insurance, a primary care provider, and a women's health provider
✓ Six months of documented progress across all eight dimensions
✓ Up to three years of Graduate Program support
85%
of graduates who stay in contact are still housed, still in recovery, and out of incarceration three years after graduation.
Follow-up is voluntary, so this reflects graduates who stay connected through our Graduate Program. A return to use of fewer than 30 days tied to a specific life event is not counted as sustained.
Show up in person
Celebration and community are part of the work. Joy, progress, and continuity, not crisis.
At The Beacon, every woman gets a birthday cake, homemade by volunteers in whatever flavor she chooses. Cake Gala, our largest annual celebration at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, extends that culture of dignity to the whole community.
Tickets, tables of eight, and sponsorships from $1,000
Cake Gala details →
Bake a birthday cake, help at an event, or bring your team for a group day. Skills-based partnerships and ongoing roles keep the home running and the community strong.
Groups, individuals, and skills-based partners
Volunteer with us →
Our capital campaign to build housing, healing, and hope for women in recovery. Every room we add is another door that can open for a woman on the waitlist.
More than 300 women are waiting
Learn about the campaign →
For capital funders
The more we own, the more sustainable we become. The more sustainable we become, the more women we can walk alongside.
$222,000
A year that once went to a landlord now stays in The Beacon, because we own Beacon Village.
~$243,000
Annual rental income from Phase I of the Village at 85% occupancy.
$500,000
Committed by the Vermeer Charitable Foundation over five years for Village operations.
Thank you
Capital · Vermeer Visionary · Nationwide
Empower · CSB Community State Bank, Simonson, FHLB Des Moines, Timmer Judkins Borland, Kiernan, Whiskey, Freedom Financial Bank, VisionBank
Community · IMT Insurance, Collabry, Tailored, F&G, East Village Spa, GreenState Credit Union, Iowa Total Care
Ally · Scheels, Bankers Trust, Thrivent, Bud & Mary's, Hy-Vee
Interested in sponsoring? Opportunities start at $1,000. Email admin@thebeacondm.org and we will send you the details.
