AMOS

A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy

Who is AMOS and Our Work for Children’s Mental Health

AMOS is distinguished from other community-based organizations in its commitment to the IRON RULE: “NEVER DO FOR OTHERS WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR THEMSELVES.” AMOS believes in the inherent dignity of each person, and the iron rule affirms this dignity, believing in every person’s ability to act. AMOS seeks to channel individual action into a responsible and powerfully-organized force for the common good. Through face-to-face, one-on-one meetings, AMOS members build relationships with members of their communities. In the process, they cut through divisions such as race, religion, and socioeconomic status, and discover the passions and concerns that unite us all.

Grace has been a part of AMOS for over 20 years.  AMOS regularly organizes research action teams to find concrete, specific, and winnable solutions to the problems plaguing families in our community. These volunteer, citizen-led issues teams are formed out of the small group house meeting process AMOS organizes every two to three years. Our issues grow out of this bottom up, grassroots process of listening and telling our stories. Over our 20-year history, AMOS has amassed an impressive track record of finding solutions to otherwise divisive, complex public problems through an intensive, win-win, non-partisan approach to politics.

Visit the AMOS web site to learn more about joining an AMOS.

An AMOS Story that Started at Grace

It all started with a house meeting, as so many AMOS stories do. In the Fall of 2004, at a house meeting with the middle school youth group at Grace United Methodist Church, youth began to talk about the need for more outdoor activities for young people in Des Moines, and asked the question: why can’t we have a great skatepark in our city? One conversation led to another… and a strategy was born.

There is still more to be done, You can help make the skate park a reality here.