Willis Dady Homeless Services received a $100,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids during the annual Grand Impact Luncheon on May 12 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex.
The Cedar Rapids nonprofit, which focuses on preventing and ending homelessness, was one of three finalists selected to pitch their programs to representatives from 50 local businesses. Each business contributed $2,000 toward the donation pool and voted on the winner after a question-and-answer session.
Executive Director Alicia Faust and program leader David Karpick presented Willis Dady’s new mattress recycling program, which aims to divert mattresses from landfills while creating accessible, low-barrier jobs. The initiative is the first of its kind in Iowa.
“We are ready to scale up,” Mr. Karpick said during the pitch.
Willis Dady plans to use the Rotary grant funding to expand the program’s infrastructure with the purchase of racking, a yard ramp, and a box truck to increase its processing capacity.
“We are very thankful and very surprised,” Ms. Faust said. “It’s extremely humbling that there are 50 businesses in the community that trust Willis Dady to be stewards of their money and believe in our mission and vision to meet individuals where they’re at and empower folks to achieve futures of self-sufficiency.”
Jennifer Welton, chair of the 2025 Grand Impact event, said the luncheon continues to demonstrate the power of collaboration between the business community and local nonprofits.
“Bringing our business community together to support big ideas – that’s what this is all about,” Ms. Welton said. “We’re thrilled to see Willis Dady take this year’s Grand Impact and can’t wait to see the ripple effects of their project in our community.”
This year’s other finalists were NewBoCo and Trees Forever. More than 30 applications were submitted in February by Cedar Rapids-area human services organizations.
For updates and more information, visit facebook.com/TheGrandImpact
