Thrive Iowa initiative celebrates new launch

ELKADER – On the second floor of the Earthmoving Legacy Center, above the replica horse-drawn carriage, Hon. Alan Heavens spoke about how modern transportation is a determinant for success in Clayton and Fayette counties. In this mostly rural region of the state, known as the Driftless Region due to having been untouched by glacial drift roughly 10,000 years ago, getting around to larger communities can be a large obstacle if you lack transportation. 

"We're very spread out up here," Hon. Heavens, said. "If somebody can't afford to have a car or keep it filled with gas, getting anywhere is a major problem."

Heavens and roughly 70 community leaders throughout Fayette and Clayton counties are hopeful the new Thrive Iowa initiative will help connect rural families with some much-needed relief.

They gathered on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in Elkader to celebrate the launch of Thrive Iowa of Fayette and Clayton Counties, which started taking referrals early in 2026. So far the Thrive Iowa initiative has helped families in the communities of Clayton and Fayette counties get back on their feet, and this has given Hon. Heavens some reason to be optimistic.

"I think Thrive Iowa is a great idea and I'm excited for what it can do for Clayton and Fayette counties, at least, and hopefully more," he said.

Heavens is a district court judge in Iowa's 1A district. He has dealt a lot with substance abuse issues throughout his career in the judicial system. He touched on that during his speech.

"My topic today was substance abuse evaluations and the importance to our judicial system of those and of getting those done, and I think of Thrive as a way to help people get those and overcome the hurdles, whether they're financial or geographical."

The energy at the event was electric and spirits were high, but the backstory of Thrive Iowa began more than a decade ago in a state more than 700 miles away from Elkader.

In 2013, career criminal Darrell Dennis was released from jail in Arkansas. Dennis was no stranger to the confines of a prison cell and the debate over whether or not he should have been re-released can't undo the consequences of his fateful actions.

Just one day after being released from jail, Dennis abducted 18-year-old Forrest Abrams at a Little Rock gas station and then shot him four times in the back and left him on the street to die. 

Cold. Heartless. Unjust.

The outrage went beyond the public.

"It was one of those catalytic events that captured the state's attention, and the state legislators' attention," Restore Hope executive director Paul Chapman told the crowd in Elkader when telling the story.

Chapman, who was in Elkader to celebrate the launch, was integral in the events of change that transpired from the Abrams slaying. 

With the rates of violent crime, opioid use, and recidivism among the highest in the nation, Arkansas leaders knew a change needed to be made to the model of how the citizens of their state were being served. The old methods were not working. 

In 2015, then-governor Asa Hutchinson gathered members of the state's faith communities to brainstorm ideas for a solution. Chapman was part of that summit. 

Chapman had read a paper authored by Stanford University years prior about the proven benefits of collective impact and he had a lightbulb moment that changed how families of the most impoverished counties in Arkansas were being served.

Chapman formed a small team and the nonprofit Restore Hope was established.

The Restore Hope model eschews the traditional apply-and-wait style of state government assistance by using resources within the very communities families reside. When talking about the collective impact model, Chapman often analogizes the construction of a new home. The plumbers specialize in getting water in and out of the home. Electricians wire the home for power. Foundation crews pour the concrete. All answer to the general contractor. It made sense to Chapman that if this cohesion worked so efficiently in the trades it should work in getting families to the specific help they need.

In Fayette and Clayton counties, the coordinator is Peggy Shae.

In its first decade, Restore Hope has brought thousands of Arkansas families out of crises and into stability and beyond. The success of the program caught the attention of leaders in other states, including Iowa. 

In early 2024, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds proposed the Thrive Iowa initiative based on the Restore Hope model. After much planning and the selection of sites, Thrive Iowa began rolling out in February of 2026.

Thrive Iowa is a community-led initiative using resource navigation, partnerships with service providers and a shared case management system to help families access help through one coordinated system.

All information is confidential and protected by HIPAA, COPAA and FERPA.

If you would like more information about the Thrive Iowa initiative, visit: https://hhs.iowa.gov/family-community/thrive-iowa

The butterfly effect that started more than a decade ago at an Arkansas gas station has reached Iowa in a major way. The good being done today doesn't undo the tragedy that took place in 2013, but the outcome as a result of that collision of fates has had a lasting impact on thousands of families across multiple states.