Growing Together

The Des Moines Campaign

Since 1928, ChildServe has transformed lives by partnering with families to help children with special healthcare needs live a great life. As we near a century of continuously improving pediatric healthcare in Iowa, our commitment to meeting the needs of our community has only grown. In recent decades, we have expanded our main Johnston campus to serve thousands of children through over 30 programs and services, and expanded into Ames, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids to reach more families than ever before.

The next step on ChildServe‘s journey is to expand our presence in Des Moines by moving from our small facility on Woodland Avenue to a new and larger building in a Des Moines neighborhood. This state-of-the-art facility will allow us to serve the growing numbers of families needing the care that we are so uniquely positioned to provide. Learn more below!

Growing Together

The Des Moines Campaign

Since 1928, ChildServe has transformed lives by partnering with families to help children with special healthcare needs live a great life. As we near a century of continuously improving pediatric healthcare in Iowa, our commitment to meeting the needs of our community has only grown. In recent decades, we have expanded our main Johnston campus to serve thousands of children through over 30 programs and services, and expanded into Ames, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids to reach more families than ever before.

The next step on ChildServe‘s journey is to expand our presence in Des Moines by moving from our small facility on Woodland Avenue to a new and larger building in a Des Moines neighborhood. This state-of-the-art facility will allow us to serve the growing numbers of families needing the care that we are so uniquely positioned to provide. Learn more below!

Campaign Impact

By supporting the Growing Together campaign, you will help ChildServe:

Increase the number of children served at ChildServe – Des Moines from 60 to 600!

Double the square footage of the current building and provide ample safe parking options for families, school buses and staff.

Create 40+ new jobs for specialized clinical staff with room for future growth.

Campaign Priorities

The Growing Together vision is our carefully developed plan to serve the growing needs of families needing the care ChildServe is so uniquely positioned to provide. Our efforts to expand our Des Moines location will be focused on four impact areas.

Autism Day Program

ChildServe offers the only comprehensive Autism program of its kind in the state, with 15+ core services that work together. We use evidence-based, research-validated comprehensive curriculum, and our team of pediatric autism experts has specialized training in best practices. We developed the Autism Day Program to meet a growing need for early intervention. Currently, 1 in 36 children is diagnosed with autism in the United States, and we have seen a 26% increase in children served with autism statewide since 2019. Learn more about our positive, child-led care environment here.

Rehabilitation Therapy

ChildServe’s occupational, physical and speech therapy programs are offered in all five ChildServe locations. We’re proud to share that we met over 3,000 standards for quality to earn CARF accreditation, and children in our programs have a 99% goal attainment rate. We provide 3,500 pediatric rehabilitation therapy appointments across the state every week. At ChildServe – Johnston, we have 182 children on our waitlist, with some families waiting months to be scheduled for services.

Medical Childcare

ChildServe’s Medical Childcare program is the only one of its kind in the state. We offer onsite nursing care, rehabilitation therapy, and specially trained caregivers with education and experience in supporting kids and young adults with complex medical needs. We developed this program at the request of state partners to fill a gap for Iowa families struggling to find appropriate weekday care. Our specialized weekday care program puts children with special healthcare needs in an environment built to help them thrive.

Neurobehavioral Clinic

ChildServe will expand our clinical expertise through the addition of a Neurobehavioral Clinic. Neurobehavior is the relationship of the nervous system, especially the brain, to behavior, emotions, and learning. Neurobehavioral therapy focuses on behavior, and is commonly used to support children diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, autism, brain injury, down syndrome, epilepsy, and more. 28% of children served at ChildServe also have a behavioral health condition (roughly 1,600 children).

We‘re In!

Thank you to our Growing Together Donors

$1,000,000

Athene
BJ and Tiffany Baker
Polk County Board of Supervisors

$500,000 – $999,999

LaRue and Bob Maddox
Ruan Family Foundation

$250,000 – $499,999

Cathy and Steve Lacy

$100,000 – $249,999

Amy Anderson and Mark Hill
Roger Fors
The Haney Family Foundation
Debbie and Mike Hubbell
Dr. Teri Wahlig and Mark Feldmann

$50,000 – $99,999

Karen and Aaron Kennedy
Virginia and Dr. William Lepley
Kim and Rich Willis

$25,000 – $49,999

Anonymous
LaNae and Joe Ceryanec
Melissa and Steve Chapman
Sharon and Esfand Dinshaw
Suzie Glazer Burt
Pam and Jim Hagenbucher
Celia and Tom Mahoney
Jean and John Matovina
Rhonda and Mike McCoy
Lisa and Joel Nelson
Mary Lou and Gerard Neugent
Shirley Poertner
Anne and JC Risewick
Michele and Steve Whitty

$10,000 – $24,999

Mary and Dave Brown
Lana and Dave Comstock
Kathleen and William Fehrman
Susan Fitzsimmons and Jacob Christensen
ITA Group
Adam J. Kaduce
Patty and Brian Laurenzo
Claudette and Patrick J. McDonald
Karen and John Miksich
Mary and Bob Miller
Tracey and Jeff Page
Emily Willits and Craig Sieverding
Brenda Stine-Reiher and John Reiher
SVPA Architects, Inc.
Vicki and Lloyd VanderKwaak

$5,000 - $9,999

Sue and Brett Bosworth
Melissa and Rudy Fors
Julie and Matt Grotnes
Jake and Wendy Moran
Tom Nucaro
Amy and Brian Tetmeyer
Deb Wiley and John Schmidt
Pamela and Michael Wilson
William C. Knapp Charitable Foundation
Windsor Charitable Foundation

Up to $4,999

Erica and Christopher Axiotis
Carrie Clogg and Joshua Barlage
Melody and Jay Bruns
Megan Christofferson
Pat and Jerry Deegan
Fareway
Genetech
Susan Hatten
Jeff Kafer
Kiley Kahler
Julie and Jim McCulloh
Wendy and Jake Moran
Mindy and Troy Moss
Sarah and Paul Mowery
Jennifer and Jacob Pavlovec
Lauren and Jon Phillips
Colleen Rogers Messenger and Ramona Messenger
Dr. Dawn, Eric and Natalie Schwartz
Jennifer and Sean Vicente
Sara Volz
Amanda and Brandon Young

ChildServe Board of Directors

Brett Bosworth

Joe Ceryanec

Susan Fitzsimmons

N. Brian Gentry

Matt Grotnes

Jim Hagenbucher

Cara Hardin

Aaron Kennedy

Tanner Kinzler

Brian Laurenzo

Chris Littlefield

Mike McCoy

Mindy Moss

Yogesh Shah, MD

Mondale Smith

Katherine Sullivan, MD

Emily Willits

Mike Wilson

ChildServe Board of Trustees

Jay Byers

Megan Christofferson

Jerry Deegan

Nick Gerhart

Suzan Hatten

Karen Henderson

Joanie Houston

Cathy Lacy

Tom Mahoney

Jim McCulloh

Jake Moran

Joel Nelson

Tom Nucaro

JC Risewick

Larry Stelter

Tom Stewart

Jennifer Vicente

Kim Willis

Amanda Young

ChildServe Board of Directors

Mindy Moss

Yogesh Shah, MD

Mondale Smith

Katherine Sullivan, MD

Emily Willits

Mike Wilson

Brett Bosworth

Joe Ceryanec

Susan Fitzsimmons

N. Brian Gentry

Matt Grotnes

Jim Hagenbucher

Cara Hardin

Aaron Kennedy

Tanner Kinzler

Brian Laurenzo

Chris Littlefield

Mike McCoy

ChildServe Board of Trustees

Jay Byers

Megan Christofferson

Jerry Deegan

Nick Gerhart

Suzan Hatten

Karen Henderson

Joanie Houston

Cathy Lacy

Tom Mahoney

Jim McCulloh

Jake Moran

Joel Nelson

Tom Nucaro

JC Risewick

Larry Stelter

Tom Stewart

Jennifer Vicente

Kim Willis

Amanda Young

Let’s Grow Together!

By lending your support to the Growing Together campaign, you come alongside ChildServe in our mission to impact the lives of children with special healthcare needs and their families through life-changing partnerships and expert loving care. Together, we can serve 10x more children right here in Des Moines.

To learn more, schedule a tour, or get involved, reach out today.

Sincerely,

Dr. Teri Wahlig | ChildServe CEO
foundation@childserve.org

About

ChildServe improves the health and well-being of nearly 5,800 children each year through specialized clinical, home, and community-based programs and services. We serve children with developmental delays, disabilities, injuries, and other special healthcare needs.