Our $10 Million Growing Together Campaign is Complete

ChildServe Closes $10 Million Capital Campaign to Relocate and Expand Des Moines Location

Published 9.30.24

ChildServe announced today the organization closed its $10 million capital campaign Growing Together: The Des Moines Campaign. The primary goal of the campaign is to provide funding to relocate and expand ChildServe’s Des Moines facility currently on Woodland Avenue, to a location near the corner of 48th and Franklin.

The new facility will consist of renovating a recently acquired building at 1750 48th Street, expediting the project timeline to serve more children, sooner. ChildServe anticipates renovation of the building to begin in the first half of 2025. This ChildServe location will more than double the square footage of the current Des Moines center, from 9,000 square feet to over 20,000 square feet, increasing the capacity of children served by tenfold – from 60 to 600. ChildServe’s Johnston location will remain the organization’s headquarter campus.

Learn More About the Campaign

“The Growing Together Campaign was about building a new Des Moines campus that would have 10 times the impact on children and families being served when compared to the current facility,” said Tom Mahoney, ChildServe Des Moines Campaign Chair, Board of Trustees Member and Past President and ITA Group Board Chairman. “This is not just another capital campaign. This project is transformative in how ChildServe is having a positive impact on the lives of children with complex medical needs and their families. This project is also helping central Iowa parents stay engaged in the workforce, so they are better able to financially support their families. It’s both remarkable and humbling to see our community come together in such a meaningful and compassionate manner to support Iowa families.”

Thanks to the generosity of more than 90 donors and community partners, Des Moines and Central Iowa will be an even better place for children with special healthcare needs and their families. Gifts and grants were provided from a multitude of individuals and organizations, including Variety – the Children’s Charity, Prairie Meadows, Athene Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, and Tiffany and BJ Baker.

“We are incredibly excited about this next step in our regional growth strategy to transform even more lives through specialty pediatric healthcare services,” said Dr. Teri Wahlig, ChildServe CEO. “Thanks to the generous contributions of our donors, their support will allow ChildServe to expand in Des Moines – the perfect complement to our main campus in Johnston in serving the Des Moines metro area. The facility will improve access and decrease barriers to care for children with special healthcare needs through several of our specialized programs, including medical childcare, autism services, pediatric rehabilitation and neurobehavioral healthcare.”

ChildServe’s current Des Moines facility offers Medical Childcare, the only program in the state of Iowa that provides specialized weekday care for children with complex medical needs, such as feeding tubes, epilepsy, and respiratory complications that require nursing oversight. The location also provides an Autism Day Program which, much like the Medical Childcare program, fills a gap for Iowa children and families who need specialized, tailored weekday childcare services. Pediatric rehabilitation therapy services, including occupational, physical and speech therapy, are also available onsite and will grow exponentially with the relocation and expansion of the Des Moines site.

Each of these services have waitlists, and ChildServe’s new Des Moines location will allow access to these imperative services for more Iowa children with special healthcare needs. In addition, a Neurobehavioral Clinic will be added. The clinic will focus on the population of children with special healthcare needs who have a co-occurring behavioral health need, such as anxiety, ADHD, autism, brain injury, developmental delay, obsessive compulsive disorder, and more.

This expansion is part of ChildServe’s larger regional growth strategy, which includes enhancing its main campuses in Ames, Des Moines, Iowa City and Johnston. ChildServe also opened its first satellite location in Cedar Rapids in 2023.

About

ChildServe improves the health and well-being of 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.