[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING ANNE BACON AS IOWAN OF THE WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CYNTHIA AXNE

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 3, 2022

  Mrs. AXNE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing Anne Bacon, Chief Executive 
Officer of IMPACT Community Action Partnership.
  Anne Bacon and her team at IMPACT have been essential in helping 
Iowans keep a roof over their heads throughout the COVID-19 pandemic 
and supporting Iowans in need. So much of what we do here in Congress 
relies on the work of public servants and communities to implement. and 
their work has been especially critical over the last two years. IMPACT 
has been serving Iowans for years. but they took on new challenges 
during the pandemic.
  Recognizing the importance of keeping Iowans housed during the 
pandemic, IMPACT helped more than 1,000 families with direct housing 
assistance during 2020, using funding from the CARES Act. This year, 
working with Polk County and Des Moines, Anne's team has kept more than 
6,500 households from facing eviction and homelessness, committing more 
than $35 million from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program Congress 
passed in the last year. That includes families with nearly 7,000 
children who were able to keep the homes they knew thanks to the 
efforts of Anne and IMPACT. Their work also received praise from the 
Treasury Department as a high-performing program for making their 
program easy to use and working directly to help renters facing 
eviction.
  Anne grew up in Toledo, Iowa, and after living in California for four 
years moved back to Iowa to commit her life to making sure that our 
social safety net would work for people going through tough times. That 
goal--making sure people could access services and leave feeling better 
than when they started--has driven her in getting her degree in Social 
Work from the University of Iowa and a Masters in Public Administration 
from Drake University, and continues to drive her work to reduce the 
barriers that people in poverty face. Anne's work at IMPACT includes 
both direct service to Iowans and looking at the systemic issues that 
create this kind of need in the US, and focuses on making sure that 
programs to help people need to recognize that the people they're 
helping are their most important stakeholders.
  Anne now lives in Ankeny and is happily married with three adult 
children and one grandson.
  Anne's dedication to helping others sets an example all of us can 
look to, and the work of Iowans like her is critical to making sure the 
work we do here in Congress reaches our constituents. My work on the 
Financial Services Committee to secure rental assistance to help Iowans 
recover from the impacts of the pandemic relies on dedicated public 
servants like Anne. I'm forever grateful for her work during this 
difficult time, and I will continue to work in Congress, as I did at 
the State of Iowa, to make sure that government truly works for the 
people. It is my privilege to recognize Anne Bacon as Iowan of the 
Week.

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