Family Promise of Greater Des Moines is ceasing operations tomorrow, the group previously announced on social media.

Why it matters: It's one of the only shelter services in the metro that keeps families with children that are experiencing homelessness together.

• Meanwhile, Anawim Housing recently sold some of its properties to pay for ongoing operations, which cannot be used as a long-term financial solution, president Cynthia Latcham tells Axios.

State of play: Both groups have played a role in finding solutions for metro homeless populations for more than 20 years and both say volunteer and financial levels have not recovered from a pandemic drop.

• Anawim is still working on solutions. Its leaders will detail the financial situation in a community alert in January, Latcham says.

Zoom in: Family Promise offered families a range of services that included employment, child and health care assistance.

• 16 families, including 22 adults and 35 children, were assisted by the group last year, according to its annual report.

Details: Grants and contributions to Family Promise fell around $75,000 — more than 20% — from $334,000 in 2020 to around $259,000 last year, its tax records show.

• Board members made a proactive decision to end operations so that its remaining finances can pay debts, according to the shelter service's statement announcing its closure.

What we're watching: Anawim is a much bigger nonprofit that provides permanent housing to hundreds of people in the metro who were previously experiencing homelessness.

• Its total revenue fell more than 14%, from just over $7.8 million in 2019 to about $6.7 million in 2021, according to the group's most recent tax documents.

Of note: Anawim still manages the properties it sold, which means the homes continue to serve low-income people, Latcham says.

What they're saying: Family Promise's closure is "a canary in the coal mine" for other metro groups serving homeless populations, Latcham tells Axios.

• As of yesterday, there were 90 metro families on shelter waiting lists but the remaining groups only have the capacity to serve 18, Amy Croll, a spokesperson for homelessness planning group Homeward, tells Axios.
• Catholic Charities and Families Forward continue to serve families in homeless situations, Croll says.

Related: DSM food pantries set "staggering" records

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Just over 43% of residents and fewer than 2.5% of staff in Iowa nursing homes are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, per CDC data reported this month.

Why it matters: COVID cases are rising across the country as health officials prepare for another winter season of fighting respiratory diseases, Axios' Tina Reed reports.

Flashback: Hundreds of thousands of residents and staff died of COVID during the pandemic, highlighting how nursing homes can quickly become overwhelmed by the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the national vaccination mandate for health care workers was lifted this year.

The big picture: Roughly 25% of residents and 2% of nursing home staffers are up to date with COVID vaccinations across the U.S., according to CDC data.

• Of Iowa's surrounding states, only South Dakota (54.1%) has higher nursing home resident vaccination rates.

Check out our interactive map

🏢 Mayor-elect Connie Boesen wants to reach out to real estate agents to assist in filling more than one million square feet of vacant downtown office space. (Business Record)

🧑‍⚖️ A WDM nursing home's owners are being sued by a former employee alleging she was fired for helping an injured resident call 911 nearly two hours after his requests to be hospitalized were ignored. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

🏈 UI football coach Kirk Ferentz says beating Michigan in Saturday's Big Ten championship game "might be kind of funny." (Sports Illustrated)

🎤 Foreigner, Melissa Etheridge and Laren Daigle are among the first acts announced to perform at the Iowa State Fair next year. (WOI-TV)

🚌 DART's first public meeting about potential service cuts is at the Northwest Community Center today, starting at 6pm.

💰 Mega donors, including the Koch family, are trying to shake up the GOP presidential race ahead of the Iowa caucuses. (Axios)

⭐️ Today's headline maker: Emily Kessinger of DSM.

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