Great Western Bank has given Hawthorn Hill in Des Moines a $5,000 Making Life Great Grant to support the organization’s Home Connection program. The Home Connection program provides affordable housing with case management services for families with children experiencing homelessness. Families typically stay in the program for two to four years, with the goal of being mentally and financially ready to move into their own home after the program. The program currently has 31 housing units and serves more than 40 families each year. Hawthorn Hill has been serving families since 1986 through the Home Connection program and since 1990 through the New Directions shelter program.