The latest video by the (Tony Hawk Foundation) Skatepark Project highlight stories of community transformation in and from the installation of the Lauridsen Skatepark in Des Moines, Iowa. 

"There was a dogged persistence in skaters trying to land whatever they were trying to learn," notes IAF organizer Paul Turner.  "In terms of advocacy, it's kind of the same."

The full story, told by Turner and AMOS leader Jan Hill, can be read in the Des Moines Register.    

Des Moines Lauridsen Skatepark: Tracing a 17-year Journey, From a Nuisance to a Metro Treasure, Des Moines Register [pdf]

Story Behind America's Largest Skatepark, RIDE Channel [video]

As Des Moines Public Schools shifts disciplinary policy, Axios contrasts the new discipline rules to the “Let’s Talk” conflict resolution strategy that A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS) designed and successfully implemented in Des Moines Middle Schools 8 years ago.

[Excerpts]

The rules [assigning students involved in fights to virtual learning] are likely to take more students out of classrooms and increase disciplinary disparities among students of color, says Cheryl Hayes, a juvenile justice reform advocate with A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS), a network of metro churches and community groups that runs a mediation program in the district….

Community volunteers [from AMOS] launched the Let's Talk program in three district middle schools eight years ago with one key objective: fix a system that disproportionately disciplines students of color, Hayes, who's also a coordinator for the program, tells Axios.

The district has since expanded the program to nearly all of its 12 middle schools...

Let's Talk is run by AMOS, a network of dozens of metro churches, neighborhood groups and community organizations.

The program helps students resolve conflicts peacefully, and ultimately aims to disrupt the "school-to-prison pipeline" — the link between punishments and the criminal justice system.

Inspiration for the restorative justice program came from "The New Jim Crow," a book about the U.S. legal system and how it has led to the mass incarceration of Black men, Hayes says.

What they do: Volunteer mediators, such as retired judges, go into schools to help resolve student conflicts or other disciplinary issues through discussion.

Oftentimes, mediators help students work through home-life traumas that are a factor in problems surfacing at school, Hayes says.

Program facilitators also assist with cultural awareness training among district educators to help improve teaching and disciplinary practices.

What they're saying: Hayes says organizers believe Let's Talk is a factor in why disciplinary referrals — generally those involving assaults or weapons — were down in grades 6-8 during the first four months of this school year [as reported by Axios, February 2022].

[Photo credit: Let's Talk via Axios]

Reducing Violence in Des Moines Public Schools, Axios [pdf]

AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) leaders in Ankeny, Iowa, organized in support of an additional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) position to serve in the Ankeny School District. AMOS pastors Fr. Michael Amadeo, Our Lady's Immaculate Heart, and Pastor Beth Wartick, Resurrection Lutheran Church, provided testimony at the Ankeny school board meeting. AMOS leaders are calling for school board decisions that will support the success of every learner in the district.

[Top photo credit: KCCI News DeMoines]

Ankeny Parents Rally in Support of Diversity Hiring, KCCI News Des Moines

Fr. Michael Amadeo Testimony, Facebook [video]

Pastor Beth Wartick Testimony, Facebook [video]

In Des Moines, Iowa AMOS leaders organized a listening campaign in which they learned how the pandemic was wreaking havoc on the mental health of their children.  They then launched a research campaign with 85 local officials and health system leaders to undergird the creation a new child crisis support system in central Iowa that includes: the hiring of two mobile crisis responders trained to work with children and adolescents by the Broadlawns Medical Center; a new Polk County Children’s Crisis Mental Health System including a warm line, community stabilization team, youth stabilization center; and youth-trained mobile crisis team.  At a delegates assembly, leaders furthermore secured commitments from the Des Moines Police Chief to hire a mental health clinician within 911 dispatch.

Each piece required careful consideration and mobilization of community leadership to demonstrate political support.  For example, 100 AMOS leaders appeared at a Broadlawns Medical Center Board Meeting to support the hiring of two mobile crisis responders trained to work with children and adolescents.  During the hearing, one of the Trustees declared, "Wow, that's a lot of people."  

AMOS leaders followed up on this and other plants of the program, inspired by thousands of Polk County residents who shared stories based on their experiences, conducted research, and organized postcard campaigns and neighborhood walks over 4 years to make new children's crisis support system a reality.

New Mental Health Resources Coming for Children in Polk County, Des Moines Register  [pdf]

Polk County Unveils New Mental Health Services for Children, KCCI Des Moines [pdf]

After 100 AMOS leaders appeared at a Broadlawns Medical Center Board Meeting to support an initiative expanding children and youth access to mental health services, Broadlawns Trustees voted 5-2 to hire two mobile crisis responders trained to work with children and adolescents.  Walnut Hills UMC leader Connie McKeen delivered testimony on behalf of AMOS in support of this momentous step forward for Polk County youth and their families.  During the hearing, one of the Trustees exclaimed, "Wow, that's a lot of people."  

20 AMOS leaders followed up in person within weeks, inspired by thousands of Polk County residents who shared stories based on their experiences, conducted research, and organized postcard campaigns and neighborhood walks over 4 years to make children's crisis services a reality.

In a related Oped, leaders Lindsey Braun and Benjamin C. Bell expressed, 

Anger has been the pilot light that has kept AMOS leaders doggedly pursuing the implementation of youth mental health crisis services for over four years.

New Mental Health Resources Coming for Children in Polk County, Des Moines Register  [pdf]
Polk County Unveils New Mental Health Services for Children, KCCI Des Moines [pdf]

Update: As a result of AMOS' public action, Iowa Workforce Development Office announced it would hire an additional 100 temporary workers to handle calls, change its website and phone system, and address language barriers and eligibility questions.  

[Excerpt]

Out of the 50 refugee clients she’s helped file for unemployment, Abigail Sui said only 20 of them have received money from claims so far.

Language barriers, troubles navigating Iowa Workforce Development’s website and phone complications have left some members of Iowa’s refugee community without the money they need to support their families while they’re temporarily laid off from work due to COVID-19, Sui said.

These are some of the struggles A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy, also known as “AMOS,” hopes to bring to light during a virtual day of action with its members on Tuesday over Zoom.

AMOS, an organization made up of churches and non-profit groups is hosting a “virtual accountability action,” so local legislators can hear about some of the barriers Iowans face filing for unemployment.

“We knew there were people really struggling to navigate the system,” said Sally Boeckholt, a leader with AMOS and a member of First Unitarian Church of Des Moines. “There are real people being affected and sometimes those are the stories that don’t really get heard.”

[Photo by Charlie Neibergall, AP Photo]

Group Seeks Solutions for Iowans Struggling To File For Unemployment, Iowa Capital Dispatch [pdf]

In a 2018 summer house meeting campaign involving more then 500 families embedded in Des Moines schools, churches and nonprofits, AMOS leaders asked, "What matters enough to you, your family, and your community that you would raise your own taxes to see it happen?”

The stories heard in these meetings, and the leaders who emerged from them, formed an agenda AMOS took to the city manager and city council last Fall, asking them to include these items in an upcoming local option sales tax vote.  In December, AMOS celebrated when the city council passed a spending resolution for the tax measure that included five key AMOS priorities and agreed to endorse the measure and get out the vote.  For two months, AMOS leaders held civic academies, phone banked, signed up hundreds of people up to vote, and gave rides to the polls on Election Day.  

On March 5th, more than 70% of Des Moines voters voted YES on Measure A, the one-cent local option sales tax measure in the city of Des Moines.  Turnout for the election was 20% higher than a similar effort last year that did not include AMOS priorities, and the margin of support for the measure was 30% higher this year than in previous years.  AMOS worked with a diverse coalition of organizations who endorsed the measure, including AARP, the Central Iowa Taxpayers Association and the Firefighters Union.

The results are particularly impressive considering efforts by a Koch Brothers-funded group to torpedo the measure with negative campaigning.  

Because of AMOS:

• Libraries in Des Moines will expand the number of days they are open from 5 days per week to 6 days per week, while the Downtown and Franklin branches will open 7; 
• 4-6 new Rental Inspectors will be hired to improve rental housing conditions;
• 150 dilapidated and abandoned homes will be torn down or renovated each year across the city, a ten-fold increase over the 5-15 homes the city is able to address now.
• Des Moines will help fund the creation of mental health crisis services for children, with a commitment from the Mayor and other public officials to get these services up and running by June 30, 2020. 

The one-cent tax will also enable the city to maintain 13 firefighter positions, speed up the building of a new fire station on the northeast side of Des Moines, and make critical investments to improve streets, sidewalks, and sewers.

As if that were not enough, on February 25th, the city council approved funding to install lights on the basketball courts at Evelyn K Davis Park — another AMOS priority.

Vote YES for Measure and Des Moines' Future, Des Moines Register

Des Moines Metro Voters Weigh 1-cent Sales Tax, Promise of Lower Property Taxes, Des Moines Register

Des Moines voters should support the local-option sales tax on March 5, Des Moines Register

Group Pushes Des Moines to Use Sales Tax Money to Extend Library Hours, Des Moines Register

Des Moines will vote on sales tax increase in March, Des Moines Register

Local option sales tax planned for March 5 vote in Des Moines, Business Record

Des Moines Weighs in on March 5 Local Option Sales Tax Vote, WHO TV

One-cent sales tax increase could fund 'blitz on blight', KCCI TV

During the summer of 2018, AMOS leaders in Des Moines engaged more than 500 families around the question, "What matters enough to you that you would be willing to raise your own taxes to see it happen?" Out of these conversations, AMOS leaders crafted a proposal of six funding priorities to include in the city's upcoming a one-cent sales tax proposal. The now released and approved city spending resolution includes five of our funding priorities, and AMOS leaders have secured a separate commitment from the city to address the sixth.

At a press conference Monday, AMOS announced support for the local option sales tax initiative.  AMOS Children's Mental Health Team co-chair Connie McKeen, of Walnut Hills United Methodist, proclaimed it a big step for another AMOS priority: children's mental health services.

Mrs. McKeen announced the formation of a Task Force of elected officials, mental healthcare providers, and community leaders who have committed to work together to implement a Children's Mental Health Mobile Crisis Unit and Crisis Observation. This team will identify the staffing, funding, and location for these crisis services to open by June 30, 2020.

Co-Chairing this Task Force on behalf of AMOS are Dr. Linda Krypel, of First Unitarian of Des Moines and co-chair of the AMOS Children's Mental Health Team, and Teresa Bomhoff of NAMI Greater Des Moines.

Members of the Task Force include, to date, the Mayor of Des Moines, Polk County Supervisor, Des Moines Public School President, CEO of Broadlawns Hospital and other key public and private health executives.

Des Moines Weighs In On March 5 Local Option Sales Tax Vote, WHO TV

One-Cent Tax Increase Could Fund 'Blitz On Blight', KCCI

Local Option Sales Tax Planned for March 5 Vote in Des Moines, Business Record

Des Moines Will Vote on Sales Tax Increase in March, Des Moines Register

Group Pushes Des Moines to Use Sales Tax Money to Extend Library Hours, Des Moines Register

AMOS's live video of the press conference

At a fateful meeting with the youth of Grace United Methodist Church in 2004, AMOS organizers and leaders learned that young people not involved in organized sports needed more recreational opportunities.  Although several “skate zones" or "plazas” were located in neighborhood parks outside the city, there was no large dedicated skate park in the City of Des Moines. 

AMOS leaders conducted research actions, including site visits to skate parks around the country, and began to build the political will for the park.  At an AMOS assembly with over 200 people, leaders challenged Councilmembers Christine Hensley and Chris Coleman to support the building of a dedicated park for skateboarding. Both agreed. 

Since then, AMOS leaders were at the center of action to promote the park, conducting meetings with Parks & Recreation staff and succeeding in persuading the City to build its first skate park: the Four Mile Skatepark in Northeast Des Moines as a short-term measure.

When efforts to identify funding for the larger park stalled, leaders persisted -- helping develop a plan to raise $3.5 million in private funds.  Fundraising was supercharged in 2015 when The Leadership Circle of the Community Foundation awarded a challenge grant of $500,000 in the hopes of encouraging other contributions.  Since then, Nix and Virginia Laurisden, for whom the park will be named, donated $1 million.  Other individual donors and community foundations invested monies towards the effort.

On October 15th, a groundbreaking ceremony was organized to celebrate the culmination of this AMOS-initiated effort.  The park, to be completed in 2019, will be the largest open-air skate park in the United States, with additional designs to meet Olympic-level qualifying competitions.

14 Years in the Making, Construction on Des Moines' Skate Park is Officially Underway, Des Moines Register

Skatepark Breaks Ground, Donor Backs $250K Sculpture, Business Record

A Brief History of the Des Moines Regional Skatepark, AMOS

Leaders packed a church hall to engage Des Moines candidates around including AMOS priorities in key investments in lower income areas of the city.  Candidates who participated and agreed to support the agenda included: Scott Sanders (Des Moines City Manager), Frank Cownie (Des Moines Mayor), Chris Coleman (Des Moines City Councilmember), Josh Mandelbaum (Des Moines City Councilmember Ward 3), and Linda Westergaard (Des Moines City Councilmember Ward 4). 

The City Manager committed to including AMOS priorities in a one-cent local option sales tax increase planned for March 2019. AMOS priorities included: expansion of library hours to at least 6 days per week, lighting in two inner city parks, addressing the growing number of dilapidated/abandoned homes in 50314 and 50316 zip codes, doubling the number of rental housing inspectors, startup funds for a children's mental health crisis unit / observation center, and basic infrastructure improvements (i.e. streets, sidewalks, sewers, and snow removal).

Leaders plan to follow up with public officials who made commitments in early 2019 to ensure their fulfill their pledges.

Group Pushes Des Moines to Use Sales Tax Money to Extend Library Hours, Des Moines Register