Dubuque City Council begins rethinking homelessness response as shelters turn people away

REAL DUBUQUE NEWS (RDN) - DUBUQUE, Iowa - Dubuque city leaders are evaluating how the city responds to homelessness after local shelters turned people away last winter for lack of space. According to KCRG, the discussion at Monday's council meeting was the first of many planned as the city reimagines its approach. Point-in-time counts by Community Solutions of Eastern Iowa show 84 people were living outside in Dubuque County this July, up from 56 in July 2025 and 23 in July 2024. The counts are federally mandated nationwide tallies of the unhoused population. In a letter to City Manager Mike Van Milligen, Housing and Community Development Director Maddy Haverland and Police Chief Joe Messerich wrote that the city needs more affordable housing, more shelter space and more collaboration between the organizations trying to help. The letter says officers aim to "offer help and resources and only take formal Enforcement action as a last resort." Dubuque's Community Police Unit has posted 40 camp notices so far this year, the most in at least six years, according to KCRG. Each notice gives occupants 48 hours to vacate. Assistant City Manager Cory Burbach suggested borrowing a page from Cedar Rapids with a lived-experience committee, saying the city should hear from "individuals who either currently or have recently experienced homelessness" about what actually helps. Since fiscal year 2022, the Housing and Community Development Department has invested $8,850,880 in rehabilitation activities to preserve affordable housing, according to the letter. City council documents show nearly 2,600 new housing units were approved or finished in 2026, but only about 15 percent of them count as workforce housing. Both the Dubuque Rescue Mission and Opening Doors turned people away last winter due to a lack of space, according to KCRG. #RDN