Norwalk police are investigating graffiti vandalism at the home of Alison Hoeman, director of Des Moines Refugee Support, after she discovered the word “Racist” spray-painted on her property early in the morning.”Our neighbor came over at about 7 this morning and just said, ‘Hey, you might want to come out and look at this,'” Hoeman said.Hoeman was surprised to find the graffiti, as she is focused on running an organization that helps immigrant students. “It is really weird. I’m nobody. I’m trying to run an organization over here that’s helping some people who need a little extra help,” she said.Her nonprofit has been supporting immigrant school kids for the past 10 years, providing essentials, facilitating travel to sports activities and offering scholarships. Many of the children are from Afghanistan. Recently, the charity delivered food to 90 refugee families, which led to negative comments on social media.”A lot of the comments were, ‘It’s racist to only deliver to refugees, to only help refugees. It’s racist to, you know, help refugees instead of Americans. It’s racist. You know, why aren’t you helping? Our veterans are homeless.’ And so a lot of just a lot of rhetoric that needs to be toned down,” Hoeman said.Hoeman believes someone decided to bypass social media and express their views through vandalism. Norwalk Police Chief Greg Staples confirmed that the police are investigating the incident, though it is unclear if the graffiti is directly connected to the social media posts.Hoeman attributes the incident to the current political climate. “It’s our people in leadership who are not only ramping up this rhetoric so that other people think that it’s OK to not only say those things, but act on those things. And I don’t know, that’s the really sad part to me,” she said.Despite the vandalism, Hoeman plans to continue her work helping immigrants.

NORWALK, Iowa —

Norwalk police are investigating graffiti vandalism at the home of Alison Hoeman, director of Des Moines Refugee Support, after she discovered the word “Racist” spray-painted on her property early in the morning.

“Our neighbor came over at about 7 this morning and just said, ‘Hey, you might want to come out and look at this,'” Hoeman said.

Hoeman was surprised to find the graffiti, as she is focused on running an organization that helps immigrant students.

“It is really weird. I’m nobody. I’m trying to run an organization over here that’s helping some people who need a little extra help,” she said.

Her nonprofit has been supporting immigrant school kids for the past 10 years, providing essentials, facilitating travel to sports activities and offering scholarships. Many of the children are from Afghanistan. Recently, the charity delivered food to 90 refugee families, which led to negative comments on social media.

“A lot of the comments were, ‘It’s racist to only deliver to refugees, to only help refugees. It’s racist to, you know, help refugees instead of Americans. It’s racist. You know, why aren’t you helping? Our veterans are homeless.’ And so a lot of just a lot of rhetoric that needs to be toned down,” Hoeman said.

Hoeman believes someone decided to bypass social media and express their views through vandalism. Norwalk Police Chief Greg Staples confirmed that the police are investigating the incident, though it is unclear if the graffiti is directly connected to the social media posts.

Hoeman attributes the incident to the current political climate. “It’s our people in leadership who are not only ramping up this rhetoric so that other people think that it’s OK to not only say those things, but act on those things. And I don’t know, that’s the really sad part to me,” she said.

Despite the vandalism, Hoeman plans to continue her work helping immigrants.