Reflecting on the seven years since I met Teresa. Learning to present—and then her passionate voice of “run with this safe space”—has come full circle. My first presentation was during the Ankeny Police Department’s CIT training and later at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and then at the Des Moines Police Department. Each time, I felt intimidated because who was I to tell law-enforcement experts my family’s story? A distance that I unknowingly placed within my presentation-on the other...

This will be long; only read when you have the time. A-NOD was able to share its/our family story with the Des Moines Police Department. Names are changed to protect those sharers of the story. One speaker spoke about their mental health condition crisis and the Officer’s ability to note a crisis and avert a possible charge. The message to the officers was simple and heartfelt: empathy can make a real difference. When something does not seem quite right, pause and ask a question before...

Psalm 24: 1 "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, meaning we manage resources as stewards. As financial stewards, we proactively choose to take care of our finances, both personal and organizational, and while doing so, we are doing so because "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it". As such, scammers have attempted to scam A-NOD by phone, as well as attempting to post a payment, hoping that A-NOD would have checked the status of the payment, follow through and "deem it...