My friend, Sheri, has been fighting to save her aunt’s home from the City of Des Moines since 2019. In 2019, a city inspector stapled a notice to her home and when she called the number listed on the notice, she was told that they wanted to label her aunt’s home as uninhabitable. It just so happened that another inspector was encouraging this inspector to condemn the home so that the other inspector could use his “flipping” business to make a profit. Sheri’s aunt, Barbara, had been taken advantage of before. Several years before, Barbara had paid several contractors to make improvements on her home, just to find that these contractors did not have her best in mind - they took her money and ran. When Sheri asked the inspectors for a list of improvements that would need to be made to make the home inhabitable, she was told that they were still compiling a list for their “beautification project.”

When Sheri said that Barbara was a senior citizen and had lived in the home for 57 years, the second inspector said, "this is still your house and we aren't going to remove you from your house today, but when we come back we will remove you from your home and the city of Des Moines will take possession of your home and all of your property." The other inspector then said, "there are a lot of people who would jump at the chance to buy this house. How old is it? I just sold my farm house I fixed up just outside of town. This looks like it was well on it's way to being a beautiful home again."

When Sheri went to the various local social services organizations in Des Moines for help, she was told the same thing by each organization - if the city is involved in it, we don’t want any part of it. Facing homelessness with her aunt and young daughter, Sheri pooled together any money she could to make whatever improvements on the home that were possible with such a meager amount of money. Sheri eventually hired an attorney with what little money she had left, and he helped her to stave off the city inspectors, until now. 

Sheri has been given a court date with the city to discuss her situation. She is so close to finishing the work on her aunt’s home. It is my hope that we can raise the remaining amount so that the necessary work that is left can be completed. Sheri’s husband, Carl, passed away suddenly due to a heart attack last year, so her aunt’s home is the only home she, her daughter, and her aunt has.

Please help Sheri and Barbara stop this tyrannical overreach from the government of the city of Des Moines, Iowa. There are several families who have been targeted by those who are running the beautification project, and it is our goal to stop this heinous abuse of power.