Lauren McCroskey gathers Idaho for All

By Kaye Hult

In response to the racist comments directed at members of a University of Utah women's basketball team staying at a Coeur d'Alene hotel in March 2024, a group of local women on Facebook began discussing their concerns about what had happened.

They invited others to an April gathering to answer the question: How can we respond to this?

That first meeting, convened by Lauren McCroskey, brought together around 20 women. They sought to create an event that would honor diversity and those who had been harmed by racism and bigotry.

The women chose to do a Juneteenth Walk on June 19 to commemorate the date enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. About 100 people came together to walk downtown in Coeur d'Alene, Lauren said.

The group continued to meet monthly, growing by word-of-mouth. Now composed of men and women, participants come from such organizations as Democrats and Republicans Together, the North Idaho Pride Alliance and NAACP, she said. They also hope to attract people from health-based organizations.

The group is seeking other ways to defend against and protest a small, but motivated element in North Idaho wanting to make Idaho into a Christian nationalist stronghold.

They chose the name Idaho for ALL. Aware of several groups with similar mission, hopes and goals, she said, "Idaho for ALL began focusing on the systemic problems endemic to the area and to promote equity, fairness and racial justice."

According to the organization's mission statement, "Those who intimidate citizens and visitors cannot be allowed to harm our communities. This hatred misrepresents the good, welcoming people of North Idaho.

"Working in partnership with other organizations, Idaho for ALL is a coalition of concerned citizens that supports the freedom, safety, health and dignity of all people, regardless of race, culture, religion, gender, sexuality or identity."

For Juneteenth 2025, they put together a second walk. They again walked through downtown Coeur d'Alene, this time drawing onlookers who joined in vigorous chanting. The walk ended with music by a local artist.

They see their immediate tasks, such as the Juneteenth walks, as being defensive, said Lauren. They have been protesting through that and other events.

Proactively, they show up to support events of other groups in ways that are not adversarial or confrontational. The goal is to build up support for those who are marginalized and neglected.

In December, they held a Vigil for Peace to lift up victims of recent and previous gun violence as a way to remember these people and give those participating space to acknowledge how these happenings affect them, said Lauren.

Other peace vigils may be held for immigrant neighbors or to promote environmental concerns, fair housing or women's health issues, she continued.

"We hope our vigils will help gather community around issues that everyone cares about, regardless of their political affiliation," Lauren said.

The group will begin planning in March for the upcoming Juneteenth Walk, now an annual event for them.

In addition, Idaho for ALL is a consortium, acting as an organizing partner for the Idaho Healthy Communities Challenge, the leadership of which comes from Boise State University.

"This is a youth-focused initiative using a health-prevention model," she explained. "In other words, we hope to tackle a problem before it becomes one.

"Our overriding goal is to help young people develop projects of their choosing to provide alternatives to compete with forces that radicalize them," she continued.

Idaho for ALL has recruited a youth facilitator to help attract Kootenai County youth to discuss what they are experiencing that invites them to radicalization. The youth will identify projects that are social or recreational, attractive to their peers, and that they are willing to own, Lauren said.

The facilitator, along with other adult mentors, will encourage this process, giving it guidelines and a framework. They'll give youth space to put together the nuts and bolts of what they would like to do.

One focus group met in November. "Participants were articulate, self-aware and had a good grasp of the issues," she said.

Funding is an issue.

"During this winter and spring, the project will seek foundation grants in order to have funds to implement the projects the youth identify and want to pursue," Lauren said.

Idaho for ALL is a group of concerned citizens, not a formal organization, she explained.

Even so, just recently they put up a website: https://idahoforall.net as a catalyst to bring groups together to share information about events, protests, educational opportunities, Zoom training opportunities and resources.

"It's in its early stages, but it's a start," she said.

"I have no background in this at all," Lauren reflected. "I'm a historic preservationist."

She retired three years ago as an architectural historian.

Lauren grew up in North Spokane.

"My parents were progressive-minded," she said. "Their Episcopalian faith played a big part, along with their concern for others and for fairness."

She continues in that tradition and attends St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene, which hosts some of Idaho for ALL's meetings.

"I'm an only child," she continued. "My parents treated me as an equal partner in the family. It was a shock to come out into the real world. As I went through school, there were two Black families in the entire North Spokane school district.

"My grandmother and her sister traveled in the Southwest, learning about the culture of Native Americans," she said. "I learned about the things they collected and what they were."

After Lauren graduated from Mead High School in 1978, she went to the University of Washington where she earned a bachelor of science degree in anthropology in 1982. From there, she received her master of science degree in historic preservation of buildings and structures from the University of Oregon in 1988.

She worked at three state historic preservation offices after college, in Idaho, Washington and North Dakota. Then she found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "where I managed their historic preservation program," Lauren said.

"I worked with inanimate objects and buildings, but there is an element of community preservation concern there as well. I went all over the country assisting Army Corps districts with their historic building issues. It always involved balancing human passions and problem solving," she said.

She also has chaired and served on some historic preservation boards.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she mediated between debris clean-up and historic preservation concerns.

"It was my first time being in diverse, mostly Black neighborhoods, where there was much poverty," Lauren reflected. "I found it valuable and eye-opening to see parts of the community harmed because of environmental and social injustice. They didn't want their past just mopped up and swept away."

Now, as she convenes Idaho for ALL, Lauren said she is "inspired by the people who come and share their skills and experience.

"I take joy in meeting good people to learn from, which gives me energy and expands our connections. I probably receive way more than I give," she said.

For information, visit the Idaho for ALL website at idahoforall.net