AMOS Expands Affordable Housing Options in Ames, Iowa
Six months after advocating that a 10-acre city-owned property be developed with a variety of affordable housing options for local working families, AMOS leaders succeeded in expanding the number of rental and lower-priced housing units to be made available.
Initially, the land parcel was zoned for single family detached homes, with some of the loudest voices calling for exclusively owner-occupied units. Thanks to the intervention of AMOS leaders, Ames City Council voted for more affordable housing to be developed on-site, including 60% to be made available at affordable rates, and to include rental housing in its Request for Proposals.
Read moreAMOS Challenges Legislative Candidates Around Mental Health
After holding 200 house meetings involving thousands of Ankeny residents, hundreds of AMOS leaders told those stories to candidates for state legislative office and secured commitments from most of them on several mental health-related items. Most candidates for Iowa House District 37 and House District 38 public committed to a) introduce legislation for the creation and funding of a loan-forgiveness program for mental care providers, b) co-sponsor legislation to grant counties the local authority to adjust taxes for mental health services and c) participating in a mental health caucus in the upcoming session.
Clergy from a cross-section of denominations told powerful stories about the need for such services in their communities. Leaders explained the correlation between financial insecurity and mental illness.
Read moreAMOS Leader Rev. Dr. Black Profiled for Legacy of Justice
The media ritual of the exit interview in which a journalist sits down for reflective conversation with a public figure leaving office or moving away shouldn't be confined only to elected officials or CEOs.
Read moreAMOS Reduces Juvenile Suspensions, Expulsions, Arrests
Thanks to persistent intervention by AMOS leaders, Polk County school officials and law enforcement appear to be keeping more children and older minors out of court.
Between 2011 and 2015, suspensions and expulsions dropped by nearly 64% and suspensions for school attendance issues dropped by 91%. Arrests of minors by city police dropped by 32%, with a 21% reduction in the arrests of African American youth.
Read more
North Texas IAF Expands Pressure on Payday Lenders
As part of a two-pronged approach to restrict payday lenders, the North Texas IAF succeeded in persuading the Council to pass zoning restrictions which would separate payday and auto-title lenders from banks, credit unions and more traditional financial institutions, while also requiring them to seek a specific-use permit from the council. The purpose of this would be to prevent high concentrations of payday lenders in low-income (or any) neighborhoods and would apply to new businesses.
Read moreNorth Texas IAF Wins on Payday Reform in Arlington
After undergoing a congregational development process in partnership with the North Texas IAF that involved 3,000 parishioners – 600 of which participated in small group encounters led by 80 ministry leaders -- leaders of St. Joseph's Catholic Parish in Arlington, Texas were astounded by the number of stories about payday lending.
Read moreAMOS Recognized for Creating Project IOWA
During a house meeting campaign in member congregations, AMOS organizers encountered countless workers, many of them Black, struggling to find decent work. In response, members of AMOS created Project IOWA to simultaneously fix the "skills gap" in the labor market and train people into living wage work. The Des Moines Register reports that since its inception, Project IOWA has graduated 205 people, 40% of which are Black, and making on average $14 / hour.
The Struggle to Help People Find Better Jobs, Des Moines Register
Project IOWA Recognized for Living Wage Strategy
In an interview by Michael Libbie of The News Hour, Project IOWA executive director Julie Fugenschuh explains the origins of the training program and how it benefits trainees, businesses and the larger community.
Read moreAMOS Makes Racial Profiling a Focus in Iowa
Over the last year, as part of a multi-year strategy to address the racial bias of the criminal justice system, leaders of AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) have recorded the stories of black Iowans racially profiled by store clerks, security guards, police and others. Says one mother of a teenage son, "I never, ever want to be that mom on TV who is crying … because something has happened to my son."
Black Iowans Fell Profiled by Police, Des Moines Register