An unlikely friendship leads to new chapter for group ‘A Mother’s Love’

You might recognize the pink sweatshirts at crime scenes but while "A Mother’s Love" consoles families hurt by violence. The real mission is to prevent the violence. A team of women do that by teaching things like parenting skills, finding a job, finance, how to survive trauma and more. They empower women.

"You save a mother you save a child," said A Mother’s Love CEO Lisa Clemons says. "You save a father, you save a family. You save a family you save a community. We have to start with mothers."

The women leading A Mother’s Love had been doing their outreach at various locations since 2018. Sometimes even working out of their cars but Clemons had a dream to change that and started raising money to buy a home for A.M.L.

But her dream was about to come true a lot faster than she expected and in a very unexpected way: Golf.

"She said I’d like to talk to you about bringing mothers and daughters, specifically African American mothers and daughters into the golfing arena," said Clemons.

Out of that, an amazing and unlikely friendship emerged. For a year, these two met for lunch to chat and talk about A Mother’s Love. Sometimes Andrea brought her husband Dan along. Then, one day Andrea and Dan brought Lisa to tears, offering to buy A Mother’s Love the home Clemons had dreamed of.

Clemons said, "I cried like a baby. You know what I did. And I was in disbelief."

Since Andrea’s maiden name came up when she called Lisa all the time, she had no idea her friends were "the Luthers" of the Rudy Luther car dealerships.

"He said ‘Luther,’ I said the car dealership? I said, ‘You’re a Luther?’ And he said yeah," Clemons recalls while laughing.

Clemons said she’s glad they were friends before she knew they had the dealerships. She believes it makes the friendship more authentic and that their partnership comes from the heart.

"What I love about her is there’s so much divisiveness out there and in so many ways," said Andrea Luther. "I just feel like every word out of Lisa’s mouth is to bring people together regardless of where they’re coming from."

The Luthers say they’re "investing" in the mission of A Mother’s Love to help mothers find a better life for themselves and their children.

"Lisa just had this really reasonable strong voice within her community and I just loved what she was doing," Andrea Luther said.

House hunting took over a year, but they finally found the perfect place. The walls will be filled with photos of important women in history. The space will be welcoming and safe. It will serve as a resource center for jobs, employment, housing, trauma relief and more; all under one roof.

At the closing on the home, Clemons said to the Luthers: "I could say thank you a million times and it wouldn’t be enough to know that somebody invested in our dream of helping change families narratives."

The Luthers replied, "We love Minneapolis and we want to see the north side of Minneapolis feel safe, secure and home and full of opportunities and we’re hoping we can be a small part in helping you do what you guys do."

But there was another partner to this dream.  Real estate agent Jay Ettinger donated his commission on the sale of the home back to A Mother’s Love. When asked if he believed in her mission, Ettinger replied, "A hundred percent. She’s my hero."

It’s a story of A Woman’s Love for community, passion for helping others and the determination that change can happen when we work together.

"I just hope some people are listening," Dan Luther told Lisa Clemons. "You’re voice is a gift. You can’t save them all but if you can save a few, maybe the tide will turn."

Everyone agrees, the partnerships don’t stop here. There’s a lot of work to be done. To learn more about A Mother’s Love or to donate, you can visit their website