Community safety depends on neighbors willing to serve and communities that stand with them

In communities across Iowa, like Waucoma and Protivin, public safety begins with people who choose to step forward.

“It’s that sense of wanting to give back to the community, recognizing the importance of having a fire department and that someone needs to do it, and having that inner fortitude to be willing to answer that call,” said Martin Ahrndt with the Protivin Fire District.

“When you commit to being a firefighter, it becomes part of who you are,” Martin said.

Nearly all of this work is done by volunteers protecting neighbors across miles of rural roads, farms,
and small towns.

“I would say 90 percent of the time, it’s somebody you know. It isn’t someone just passing through. It’s someone in your community,” said Jim Franzen, assistant fire chief with the Waucoma Fire Department.

That connection shapes everything. It’s why they leave in the middle of the night, train for hours, and keep showing up, even when the job is hard.

“These are fellow citizens giving up time with family to help someone else,” Martin said.

And they don’t do it alone.

“It’s a brotherhood and sisterhood. If something happens, we’re there,” said Mike Klimesh with the Waucoma Fire Department. “It’s a family.”

Through mutual aid, neighboring departments respond side by side, sharing people and equipment. In rural northeast Iowa, community safety depends on that network.

But sustaining it takes more than commitment.

Volunteer numbers are declining, training demands are growing, and the equipment needed to do the job safely is increasingly expensive. Small city budgets cannot cover it all.

That’s where community support becomes essential.

CFNEIA's local affiliate community foundations are investing in fire departments across the region. The Waucoma and Protivin departments have received support from multiple county foundations, including Fayette, Chickasaw, Howard, and Winneshiek. This support reflects the partnerships that often cross county lines and helps provide the equipment and training needed to keep firefighters and residents safe.

“These grants are a godsend. It shows the community is behind us,” Jim said.

In rural communities, safety is not automatic. It is built by brave people committed to service and communities that stand with them.

Helping individuals heal to create stability and strength for people and communities

Across Northeast Iowa, Riverview Center answers some of the most difficult calls a community can receive.

“Our mission statement is we provide crisis and long-term support services for survivors of sexual violence in 14 counties in Iowa and two counties in Illinois,” said Gwen Bramlet-Hecker, Executive Director. “Our advocacy, our work, is all 100% confidential, and it is 100% free. We never want anyone’s inability to pay to hinder their ability to heal.”

That commitment to being free, safe, and confidential is foundational to community health and safety. Riverview Center’s 42 staff members respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, meeting survivors in hospital rooms in the middle of the night, sitting beside them in courtrooms, and helping them navigate next steps toward healing.

“We just believe survivors. They don’t have to prove it to us. Sometimes we’re the only people who believe. And for survivors to heal, they have to have somebody believe.”

The need spans ages, backgrounds, and geography. While violence does not discriminate, access to healing often does.

“Sexual violence or domestic violence doesn’t discriminate,” Gwen said. “However, that’s not to say that everybody has equal access to the same types of healing opportunities or access to systems of justice.”

In rural communities, barriers can be even more pronounced. “In rural communities, only 2% of sexual violence ever gets reported to law enforcement,” she said. “For us to be present is something we take very seriously in those rural communities.”

That presence can change the trajectory of a family. Gwen recalls a young mother struggling after an assault, unsure she could take her children to back-to-school night. An advocate went with her.

“If you help the individual heal, you help a family heal. And if you help a family heal, you help a community heal,” she said.

Since 2009, the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and its local community foundations across its region have invested more than $250,000 in Riverview Center, helping to strengthen rural outreach, sustain 24/7 response, and expand culturally responsive support.

“The Community Foundation really listens to the communities they serve, giving decision-making power back to nonprofits on how funds get used,” Gwen said. “That support is powerful. It helps us be present. It tells communities we are here.”

When survivors are believed, families stabilize. When families stabilize, communities grow stronger.

Investing in health & safety is not abstract. It is personal. Together, we are ensuring no one has to heal alone.