About
About
; Who We Are
501(C)(3) | Alive and Running Iowa | EIN: 81-3697827
Alive & Running Iowa was formed in 2010 by Troy and Candice Belmer along with Ryan and Melissa Nesbit. The nonprofit organization is completely volunteer-led and uses all funds to raise awareness of suicide prevention. The organization uses the money to hold free trainings as they feel education is key to preventing suicide. They also have donated to MercyOne, UnityPoint Health, Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health and Cedar Valley Hospice to support work toward the cause. In addition to suicide prevention work, Alive & Running Iowa also hosts two grief support groups in Waverly and Waterloo for those who have experienced a loss due to suicide.
We offer QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer), ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), and Question & Answer trainings/presentations. We can bring the documentary “My Ascension” to an audience in your community. To schedule a training/presentation or for more information about the documentary, please contact Ryan at ryan.r.nesbit@gmail.com, 641-990-4957 or fill out the QPR Contact form.
In 2021, Troy and Ryan won the MercyOne "Heroes Among Us" award for serving as "Community Service Heroes." According to MercyOne "a hero is an ordinary person who has done something extraordinary to benefit others. They have gone beyond their moral duty to ensure the well-being of others or shown great compassion and courage." Troy and Ryan are more than deserving of this award!
In 2022, Alive and Running received the Gerard Circle Award from the Allen Foundation. Qualification for the award included a lifetime of giving of $10,000 or more to the Allen Foundation.
; How Can I Help
For more information on any of the following ways to donate, please contact us.
- Volunteer
- Donate
- Schedule Suicide Intervention Trainings
- Bring the "My Ascension" documentary to your community
; Where The Funds Go
We use the funds donated to Alive and Running Iowa in various ways throughout the surrounding communities. In addition to the following, we are constantly in communication and working on projects with locally-based (Iowa) mental health professionals.
- 2 - $1,000 scholarships each year. One will go to a Dunkerton High School senior and the other will go to ANY student in Iowa, high school or college. Please ask your guidance counselor for the application.
- Billboard advertisement around the Cedar Valley
- Furniture and other needs for local mental health units
- Educational materials to local agencies who work with mental illness and suicide
- Fund local support groups in Waverly and Waterloo
- Sponsor local schools sports programs
- Fund QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Trainings, free of charge to those who attend
- Fund ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) Trainings
Yearly | $1,800 - $2,000
Billboards
We have a contract with Lamar Advertising and have billboards up around the Cedar Valley throughout the year.
February 2022 | $11,000
MercyOne Northeast Iowa
Alive & Running donated money to the Behavioral Health Unit at MercyOne that will assist in a security upgrade including new cameras to provide a safe environment for patients.
December 2021 | $5000
Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center
A total of $10,000 was donated to Black Hawk-Grundy Medical Center which was used to assist clients with moving expenses. Alive & Running donated $5,000 and the County Social Services matched their amount for a total of $10,000!
July 2020 | $2000
Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center
Alive & Running received a $2,000 grant from the Gordon Flesch Charitable Foundation and donated it to BHGMHC. These funds will go towards buying iPads for client check-ins as well as cameras for staff photos.
June 2020 | $600
Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center
The money donated was used to purchase new staff shirts.
February 2020 | $17,900
UnityPoint Health Allen Hospital
The Mental Health Unit at UnityPoint was able to purchase and install specially-designed desks and chairs for each of their 21 inpatient rooms. This furniture is specifically made to greatly reduce ligature risk with features such as heavily-weighted chairs to make lifting and moving difficult, desks secured to the wall, and no handles, hooks, or gaps that could be used as anchors for other ligature items.
May 2019 | $9,000+
MercyOne Northeast Iowa
MercyOne Inpatient Behavioral Health Care received new furniture that is specifically designed for behavioral health units to allow more comfortable and safe spaces for patients to interact with their loved ones, our colleagues, and other patients.
September 2017
Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center
Two benches were purchased and then donated to BHGMHC. These give patients and families a place to sit outside and enjoy the weather and sunlight.