A Mother’s Love Initiative
Story by Amy Overgaard
Floral Illustration by Genessis Lopez
Lisa Clemons doesn’t leave for work without donning her signature pink shirt. She and her team are known throughout the community by their pink tops, their loving support of people in the community — and their willingness to offer a good dose of tough love. Lisa is the founder of A Mother’s Love Initiative (AMLI), a grassroots organization in North Minneapolis that aims to reduce gun violence by creating a support system that leads to individual, communal, and generational transformation.
This mission comes from Lisa’s own life experiences. She was raised by her mother in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Projects. “My mom never allowed us to make that or anything else an excuse,” Lisa says. “She gave us values, respect, and a moral compass.” In adulthood, her experience as a single mom, educator, and former Minneapolis police officer all led her to start AMLI. “At that time, 70 percent of households in our community were headed by single Black moms,” Lisa says. “They need a support system.”
The women she hand-picked to work alongside her had life experiences reflective of the women she wanted to serve — women who had experienced poverty, addiction, domestic abuse, single-parent homes, gun violence. “I needed them to be able to meet people where they are and then build from there with them,” Lisa says.
AMLI’s women’s empowerment class, born out of those lived experiences, has become one of the organization’s central offerings. But AMLI also offers summer tutoring in the Cub Northside community room, year-round youth and men’s empowerment classes focused on the needs of each group, and mentorship for everyone who goes through a class. With their boots-on-the-ground approach, they regularly walk through high-crime areas to build relationships and trust with community members, getting to know individuals and their pain points.
Everything AMLI does focuses on relationships and empowerment — both of which Lisa strongly believes will help reduce incidents involving violence with guns in the community. She’s passionate about giving individuals the resources and tools they need to make better choices. “Preventative work absolutely saves lives,” Lisa says.
But some of their work is downstream, too. Staff mentor young women at the Juvenile Detention Center. And both in North Minneapolis and across the Metro, they also offer crisis counseling and care at crime scenes where there’s been a shooting, homicide, or hostage situation.
“A lot of people say, ‘What do you do?’ And I say, ‘everything,’ because no person needs the same things. We want to be prepared for whatever that need is,” Lisa says.
“There’s a lot of pain and grief in our community. Everything we do is about making people whole.”
“A lot of people say, ‘What do you do?’ And I say, ‘everything,’ because no person needs the same things. We want to be prepared for whatever that need is,” Lisa says.
More people will soon benefit from AMLI’s approach. The organization recently received a grant to offer their programs to communities in Brooklyn Park — but they’re starting with community outreach, helping residents get to know and trust the ladies in the pink shirts.
Want to support AMLI’s mission? Financial contributions help provide resources and supplies to community members in need and further support outreach initiatives.
