The legislation allows counties to flexibly adapt funding priorities to local needs. It allows them to invest in preventive services. It provides a strong structural mechanism to make the most effective use of existing services, and it creates incentives to develop creative approaches to service delivery. It was a reform waiting for a major initiative to realize its potential in frontline practice. Under the terms of that grant, Patch came to Iowa.
Patch means neighborhood.
The area is made up of mixed residential and light commercial development. It's bounded by an interstate highway on the north, and the Cedar river on the south. It's a small inner city neighborhood, ringed by urban development. These groups sponsor a number of activities ranging from clean-ups to summer festivals, to child care programs. In addition, a number of municipal institutions are in the patch.