Rooted in Community: Leading With Heart at New Visions

Lessons on dignity, resilience, and why compassion is the starting point from our conversation with Brandy Wallar.

Some people talk about community. Others embody it.

From the moment Brandy Wallar begins speaking, you can feel it—this work isn’t something she does. It’s something she carries.

In our conversation with Brandy Wallar, CEO of New Visions Homeless Services, we were reminded that solving homelessness doesn’t start with systems, policies, or buildings. It starts with seeing people as people.

And Brandy has been doing exactly that her entire life.

Growing Up in Council Bluffs — and Growing Into Service

Brandy was born and raised in Council Bluffs, a place she describes with deep gratitude—not because it was easy, but because it showed up when her family needed it most.

Raised by a fiercely resilient single mother, Brandy experienced instability early: moving often, navigating poverty, and learning firsthand what it feels like to exist on the edge of security. But woven through those challenges was something powerful—teachers, coaches, and neighbors who saw her potential and refused to let it go unnoticed.

That foundation shaped everything that came next.

A Small Moment That Shifted Everything

Why helping one person helped Brandy find herself

As a teenager, Brandy joined a school volunteer program almost by accident. What she didn’t expect was the moment that would quietly change her life.

While visiting a senior living facility, she noticed an elderly man struggling to feed himself. When she asked if she could help, his response—relief mixed with vulnerability—stopped her in her tracks.

In that moment, Brandy realized something profound: helping someone else gave her a sense of purpose and self-worth during a time when much of her own life felt out of control.

That realization stayed with her—and it became the beginning of a lifelong commitment to service.

From PB&J Sandwiches to Lifesaving Systems

The story of New Visions Homeless Services began simply—with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich offered to someone who was hungry.

What started as a small, grassroots act of care grew into a cornerstone of Council Bluffs’ response to homelessness. Today, New Visions serves hundreds of thousands of meals each year, operates the only daily men’s shelter in Western Iowa, and provides low-barrier support to people navigating some of the hardest moments of their lives.

As Brandy put it plainly:

“I don’t think anyone should ever have to audition for food.”

Low-Barrier, High-Humanity Leadership

At the core of Brandy’s leadership is a deep belief in dignity.

New Visions operates as a low-barrier shelter, meaning people are offered safety and care without conditions attached. There is no expectation that someone must “earn” food, shelter, or compassion.

That philosophy shows up in the details—installing showers so people can feel human again, laying down mats when beds run out instead of turning people away, and refusing to treat basic needs as rewards.

Because homelessness isn’t a moral failure. It’s a systems failure.

And Brandy is honest about the weight of carrying that reality every day.

Why Her Passion Is Contagious

Spending even a few minutes with Brandy makes one thing clear: her belief in people is relentless.

She speaks about those experiencing homelessness not as problems to solve, but as neighbors—someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone who deserved support long before they arrived at New Visions’ doors.

That belief does something powerful. It makes you want to help.

It makes you want to challenge harmful narratives and imagine solutions rooted in compassion instead of fear.

A Community Responsibility

Homelessness is complex. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s easy to look away.

But people don’t disappear just because we wish they would. They exist. They survive. And how a community responds says everything about who we are.

At The Community Mic, we believe conversations like this matter—not because they’re easy, but because they remind us that compassion is not optional.

We’re grateful to Brandy Wallar for her leadership, honesty, and unwavering commitment to Council Bluffs.

Listen to the full episode. Hear Brandy Wallar’s full conversation on The Community Mic Apple Podcast or Spotify.