September-October 2005

NPA leader inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame

Brenda LaBlanc, an NPA co-chair and long-time leader with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, has been inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame. She is one of approximately 125 women to receive the honor for nearly 30 years of tireless efforts on issues that impact everyday Iowans the most.

Her accomplishments include: Establishing lending agreements with banks that have resulted in more than $100 million in mortgage loans in previously underserved neighborhoods in Des Moines; helping farmers stay on the land by establishing loan programs that made over $35 million in loans available to small and mid-sized family farmers; convincing Iowa’s main supplier of natural gas in the 1980s to provide $1.5 million in weatherization grants to low income people; winning local ordinances that helped curb street level crime and drugs that were trapping neighbors in their homes.

Preston Daniels, former mayor of Des Moines, and his wife Patty said of Brenda, “We believe that much of the re-vitalization of Des Moines’ older neighborhoods can be attributed to the tremendous efforts of Brenda and others like her. She is a shining example of how one may live one's life with integrity and in service to others.”

“You can talk about problems forever and talking about them helps you understand them, but it doesn’t solve them. You have to act if you want to change things,” Brenda said. She was inducted Aug. 27.