The Communicator Newspaper, a Central Iowa Weekly founded in 1985, by line: “A New Multicultural Experience” This is a Black American newspaper.
This is volume 4, no. 10. May 1-15, 1990
front page article: “Five Point Plan to Deal With Gangs” begins “After a recent shooting in Dese Moines’ inner city involving groups of youths, Wayne Ford of Urban Dreams reiterated his five point plan in working with gangs. Althoug htplan was developed last year, little has been done to implement the program.”
In brief, the 5 points call for:
1. Des Moines’ corporations create jobs for inner city youth.
2. $50,000 grant to Urban Dreams to create alternatives to crime and gang membership
3. Community-wide commitment to inner-city youth
4. A task force comprised of community teachers, gang leaders and politicians
5. A mediator to work with gangs.
Former Iowa state Rep. Wayne Ford is a retired state representative and former executive director of Urban Dreams. Information about Wayne Ford from wikipedia: “Ford was born in Washington, D.C. in 1951[1] and grew up living in Washington’s inner city. He graduated from Ballou High School. After high school, he received a football scholarship to play at Rochester Junior College in Minnesota. In 1974, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Education from Drake University where he played on a football scholarship. Ford currently serves on several committees in the Iowa House – the Appropriations committee; the Economic Growth committee; the Human Resources committee; and the Government Oversight committee, where he is vice chair. Ford was re-elected in 2006 with 5,405 votes, running unopposed. [1] Ford also owns and operates his own consulting firm, Wayne Ford & Associates.