“What a perfectly-timed trip…What a great time to be out of Michigan…Don’t come back!” These were the messages being sent to me all week long and I couldn’t help but feeling guilty for enjoying 75-degree weather and basking in the vibrant Arizona sun, while others were surviving the unprecedented polar vortex back home.
Not only did I get out of the extreme weather, I also got out of a house without a working furnace and left my spouse and toddler to “figure it out.” Guilt, yes, lots of GUILT permeated my mind and heart that week.
My redemption was that I was in Arizona not to enjoy a luxurious poolside vacation. I was privileged to come together with Latina and Latino professionals from across the country and México to close out our seven-month journey together through the Hispanics in Philanthropy NGen Líderes Fellowship program.
The cohort was made up of 28 practitioners in both philanthropy and nonprofits, who were committed to a space of authentic engagement with one another. Our purpose was to transform the way we think about our shared work toward fostering more just communities. It was a deeply humbling experience to journey alongside these remarkable individuals. I can share with you the technicalities of what this cohort “did” and what we learned through two in-person gatherings and bi-monthly webinars. I can share with you the topics of navigating systems, civic dialogue, advocacy, racial equity, gender inequities, and use of data that we critically engaged and discussed – but quite frankly, these details do not begin to do the cohort justice for the real essence of what we have built together.
In the face of so many grave challenges facing our communities in education, housing, economic development, and health, we are being called upon to learn from our past while also building new practices of sustainability to engage our community advocacy for the long-haul. For the Latino community, these disparities are especially present and are compounded by issues of language access, immigration, transnational identities, and various civil rights at play.
We know that the Latino population is rapidly growing and set to be the largest population in the United States by 2044. Philanthropy has to find ways to be more relevant and accountable to our community as we know that Latino serving organizations receive less than 2% of all philanthropic dollars across the country. We know that philanthropy is not alone as we are seeing ongoing disparities in educational outcomes for brown children and extreme wage gaps for Latinas and Latinos across sectors. We all have to do better for my community, for our community.
The NGen Líderes cohort has been about building an authentic, transparent, and grounded community of practitioners, who have essential and needed leadership assets to engage some of the most critical issues facing our Latinx communities now and into the future. Our community was about cultivating thought partners to navigate systems not built by us or for us. Our network was about finding nourishment and care in the face of isolation in our roles, advocacy, and amid public rhetoric that demonizes brown bodies. The space we created was about being able to be unapologetically ourselves in all our Latinidad without filtering ourselves in leaving any of our identity at the door and embracing the liberation of that space.
Ultimately, our work together was about living into our authentic power and strength as a community. We were fed physically (with literally some of the best tacos on the face of the earth!) and spiritually by one another to be sustained in our work now and into the future. We have become familia for the long-haul in the name of healthier and more liberated Latinx communities. We are one of the many emerging faces of a new chapter of American leaders and our power and influence have only begun to be realized.
Elena is a community investment officer at KZCF.
I love a good story. One of my favorite types of stories is how and why someone chooses Kalamazoo to be their home. Not all stories are quite the same, however the humanity in each story illustrates the unique puzzle pieces that reflect the residents of Kalamazoo County.
My story of how I chose Kalamazoo began in college. I was a student at Sunway College in Malaysia studying at a Western Michigan University (WMU) transfer program with a major in journalism and a minor in music. After spending a year and half in the transfer program, I moved to Kalamazoo in 2003 to complete my bachelor's degree. During my time at WMU, I met a boy, stayed for love and the rest is history.
Usually this is where the story ends when I share about how I came to Kalamazoo. However, this story is about why I chose to stay in Kalamazoo. I have two reasons: my loving husband and the Kalamazoo community.
Sarah and her husband, Chauncey, at the annual Chinese New Year Celebration at Chenery Auditorium.
The Kalamazoo community ultimately seals why I chose to stay. From career opportunities to friendships - and the overwhelming support to make a difference in the Kalamazoo community - I've chosen to make this my home even though I was not born and raised in Kalamazoo. I have had the great fortune to meet many amazing people in Kalamazoo who work in marketing and communications that share the same passion as I do to make a difference in Kalamazoo.
Overall, I am thankful for what Kalamazoo has offered me to live, work and play in this community. I find a variety of ways to give back to this community - whether its’ my time, talent or money. This year, I donated to Kalamazoo Community Foundation to continue supporting this community in making this place a more equitable place to live.
Please consider joining me and making a gift as well today at kalfound.org/GiveNow or learn more about the Community Foundation’s mission online at kalfound.org.
Sarah Lee is the director of Marketing Communications at Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
When I first came to the Community Foundation, it was clear integrity wasn’t simply a core value, it was a badge of honor worn on our sleeve. You could feel the intensity with which every staff person committed to upholding the reputation of KZCF. Each person saw the responsibility to maintain the unquestionable integrity as part of their job description. I’m not sharing this from a place of moral superiority, but from an understanding that KZCF’s vision of an equitable community is not possible without honoring integrity.
Donors demonstrate trust when they put gifts in our care and we show integrity by honoring this donor intent. Our process ensures that the donor’s wish is followed with every gift we maintain, even beyond the donor’s lifetime. That is a key component of the power of endowment — of permanent funds impacting our community forever.
It also takes trust for the community and grantees to work with us to address some of the most sensitive and critical issues facing Kalamazoo County. We’ve come to understand that integrity also means holding the community at the center of our work. What is best for the most vulnerable residents must prevail in some of the toughest decisions we make. Integrity is achieved when we consistently and authentically honor community voice in how we approach our work. This is where unrestricted giving comes into play, giving KZCF the flexibility to allocate those dollars while we honor other funds that may be restricted for specific work.
Today’s news headlines can easily make us question whether or not integrity is a relic of the past. We live in a complex world that makes finding solutions more complicated than ever. Finding the right path can sometimes feel like threading a needle. But when all is said and done, doing the right thing for the community — so every person can reach full potential — is what drives us.
You can be sure our staff and board’s commitment to integrity remains steady, while our work continues to evolve to meet challenges today and into the future. We want to keep growing gifts, increasing impact, and earning the trust of the community. So, if you have made a gift, we sincerely thank you for your trust. And if you’d like to take the first step toward giving a gift to KZCF, contact any member of our Donor Relations team or give online today.
Carrie Pickett-Erway is the President and CEO of Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
Expanding our cultural lens is a value we are committed to at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. That's why it was important for members of our team to attend the Facing Race Conference by Race Forward, an organization that collaborates with community, government and other institutions to dismantle structural inequity.
Members of KZCF staff at the Facing Race Conference in Detroit.
This year's convening brought thousands of educators, organizers and leaders from across the country and world to Detroit to deepen their understanding of racial equity. Here's what a few members of our team said about their experience:
"It was exhilarating to be in a space with over 3,000 human beings who may be actively engaging in race-explicit work that mandates innovations should keep their focus on disrupting racism. It was exciting to hear the echo that racial equity is about transforming value systems and paradigms on white superiority and white supremacy mutates over time so that racial justice interventions must be highly customized, flexible and responsive. Thus, our narrative change design work must be highly customized, flexible and responsive to the needs of the Kalamazoo community."
- Mimi Bellamy, Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Leadership team
"One of my favorite quotes (paraphrased) from the conference was: Yes, other identity markers such as gender, sexual orientation, class, status, etc., are important. However, we have to keep using race as a lens because even when you look at all these other markers, they always get worse when you disaggregate by race."
- Sholanna Lewis, KZCF Community Investment Officer
"The conference affirmed my journey and platform as a Black Woman, who also happens to be an employee at KZCF. I will continue to stand in my truth and challenge others by asking the tough questions in uncomfortable situations. That is one way to help others to reach their full potential in our community."
- Raven Britt, KZCF Development Officer
We've made progress on understanding racial equity and how it applies to our work in the community, but our learning still continues. It's essential to realizing our vision, a community where every person has the opportunity to reach full potential.
I recently noticed this historical marker, north of Notre Dame, while visiting my hometown of South Bend. Being a history buff, I pulled off the road to check it out.
Years ago, I would have thought it was interesting information (no, I didn’t travel the extra mile west to check out the portage site). Now, with a greater awareness of equity, diversity and inclusion, my response was, "Really, what were they thinking?"
So, how should it read? This is what I came up with, working within the confines of the marker itself:
EARLY ENCAMPMENTS
1 Mile West
“Pottawatomi used this portage between St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers for hundreds of years, as did European explorers who followed in the 17th century.”
I’m assuming the marker has been there a long time and appreciate how the people behind it (the Colonial Dames)were products of their time – but still, surely they knew their own local history. They were probably history buffs like me. But why was it so important to focus just on the white man?
With this marker, it seems easy to apply a new lens. But it’s easy to get caught in old narratives, no matter how much we know about our history. I have a masters in U.S. History, but when I heard someone say, “All Americans were immigrants,” it didn’t occur to me how inaccurate that was, until someone added that African Americans brought to the United States in slave ships were certainly not immigrating. Of course, I knew that, and I was ashamed that I hadn’t instantly connected the dots.
Meanwhile, speaking of the Colonial Dames, Thanksgiving is almost here. Elementary teachers nationwide have been re-thinking how they tell this story and the colonization of America, applying a new lens to a new generation of Americans.
So, narrative change takes work, and isn’t limited to just history. Here at KZCF, we’re learning about narrative change through the work of Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, and trying to apply it to our everyday lives. I think it’s something that LaSalle would appreciate; he certainly knew that others had portaged those rivers before his visit.
Tom Vance is a communications officer at KZCF.
A white man. Five African American girls ages 12-14. A red van.
For the first time, the girls were outside their Northside community. Would the road ever end? Then, traffic halts. One policeman armed with a machine gun asks the white man to get out of the van. The other asks the eldest girl: “Who is the man? Where are you going?
“Mr. Hansen is our teacher. We are going to Niagara Falls.”
That vivid scene from my childhood nearly 40 years before, played back like a "This is your Life" rerun as Canadian border patrol stepped onto a charter bus filled with 25 African American girls in 2016. He pointed to one girl.
"Who is your leader? Where are you going?"
"We are with Mrs. Hollins,” she said. “We are going to Niagara Falls.”
As the founder of the Merze Tate Explorers, I have a passion to educate youth through travel experiences. Many fail to realize the significance of young people traveling outside all they have ever known, to see people and places they otherwise may never have experienced. Mr. Hansen knew this in the 1970s. But, Merze Tate knew this in 1928.
Tate was born in Blanchard, Mich., in 1905. She left all she knew to finish her last two years of high school in Battle Creek where she lived as a maid to pay for her room and board. She went on to Western Michigan University where she graduated in 1927 with the school’s highest academic average. Despite her achievements, African Americans were not allowed to teach secondary education in Michigan. Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Ind., was for African Americans. She became their first history teacher and sponsored her Travel Club to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Niagara Falls – during the Depression Era!
What Tate knew – before traveling the world twice herself – was what Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said: A mind stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. The Explorers recently celebrated 10 years. Its original 12 members are college graduates, Fulbright Scholars, interns in Washington D.C., and world travelers.
Sonya Bernard-Hollins is editor of Community Voices magazine and is the Community Advancement Specialist at Public Media Network.
"What are you doing in Kalamazoo??"
That's usually the response I get in jest when I tell people I meet here that I was born and raised in California. Love brought me to Kalamazoo and love for community has inspired me to make a home here. When I think about a great city, what initially comes to mind is the attractions, night life and cuisine. But, when I think of a great community, I envision so much more.
I joined the team at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to form a deeper bond with the community I now call home. I have had the chance to engage with several nonprofits doing meaningful work around equity and education. Our Voting For A Cause activity was designed to expose the community to this work -- especially how our grantees are addressing the very real inequities in Kalamazoo County's housing and education systems. It's an urgent issue in our community -- so critical, we made it the focus of this year's Community Meeting. Coordinating Voting For A Cause introduced me to the creative and impactful ways local nonprofits are transforming this community. They are advocating, educating, nurturing, and mentoring children and adults in every corner of Kalamazoo County.
So what am I doing in Kalamazoo, you ask? I'm working to advance a vision. That vision is of a community where income doesn't determine outcomes. That vision is a place where each of us has the opportunity to live to our fullest potential. I believe in that vision and the ability for it to be a reality when we are fully invested as a community.
Jordan Duckens is a communications officer at KZCF.
Every family deserves fair and affordable housing in Kalamazoo County - no matter zip code, identity or race. Not only does it fulfill a basic human need for shelter, but also contributes to the well being of every family members’ physical and mental health. Housing impacts individual's ability to reach full potential and is essential for shared prosperity.
Unfortunately, not every resident in Kalamazoo has equitable access to fair and affordable housing. This is why our local collaborative[1] came together to do racial equity work in the housing sector. The collaborative identified two key reasons why this inequity occurs, specifically:
1. Access to housing can be limited due to discriminatory practices, lack of understanding of fair housing laws, and other barriers
2. Vague definitions of “affordable” housing impacts low-income residents and neighborhoods greatly.
These two things work together to perpetuate segregation, housing instability, and homelessness in our community by creating a systemic barrier that affects people of color and other marginalized identities.
In this first article of a two-part blog series, we will explore further why the lack of access to housing surfaced as one of the primary indicators of inequity in housing and in the second article we will address the problem in defining affordability in the housing sector.
Fair Access To Housing
Fair housing and affordable housing have separate meanings, but are very related. Fair housing works to integrate communities, so everyone can build diverse and meaningful relationships. However, discrimination towards people of color and other marginalized identities occur through systemic barriers preventing them from accessing housing fairly.
Many residents are unaware of protections offered under fair housing laws, what housing discrimination is, what it looks like, or where to report it. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidance on fair housing laws states, "a policy or practice that denies housing to anyone with a prior arrest or any kind of criminal conviction cannot be justified, and therefore such a practice would violate the Fair Housing Act." Based on our research, we have uncovered that there are housing providers who include these types of blanket statements in their application process. Another example is the practice of steering, or suggesting a home buyer only look at homes in certain neighborhoods.
We have been collecting information on people’s experiences with housing through survey, focus groups, and interviews. Using the information collected, the collaborative will recommend informed action steps for both local government and housing agencies that advance fair and affordable housing solutions in Kalamazoo.
We commit to see, hear, and understand the community needs around housing, and staying in conversation with community to identify the best solutions. Similarly, we encourage you to engage in conversation about housing in our community and share the following survey with friends and family members who have experienced discriminatory housing practices.
Click here to take or view the housing survey.
Click here to read the second article of this two-part blog series.
Notes & References:
[1] The collaborative comprise of Michigan Department of Civil Rights, Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, Interfaith Strategies for Action and Advocacy in the Community (ISAAC), and Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
Affordable housing is important for all Kalamazoo residents. It allows families to have a safe place to live and the ability to focus their budget on the overall family’s well being, especially providing food, healthcare and other basic needs.
However many municipalities and agencies define affordable differently for their respective area or city when making decisions on housing development. Some define it as 60 percent of the middle income of the area, some 80 percent, and others pushing for 30 percent to reach very low-income households. Additionally, depending on which measure you use - the metropolitan area, the city, or neighborhood median - you will get different affordable rental rates.
In Kalamazoo, the rental rates range as high as $1,300 and as low as $500 or lower for low-income households. Due to many housing programs using the metropolitan rate, what is deemed affordable isn’t always affordable for everyone, including people making close to the average income in their own neighborhood or even the middle income for the city. 
In this second article, we address the second key reason identified by the collaborative [1] why Kalamazoo residents experience inequitable access to fair and affordable housing, specifically the vague definition of affordability that significantly impacts low-income neighborhoods.
Defining Affordable Housing
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is the regulatory body for the housing market and also a major funder for many housing programs, states that housing expenses (rent and utilities) should not exceed more than 30 percent of household income.
However, the rules are not always determined by a family’s actual income, but rather HUD uses the middle income in the area - sometimes called the median income.
Geographical Location
|
Estimated 2018 Median Family Income
(ACS 2015 5-Year Estimates [3])
|
Kalamazoo-Portage MSA
|
$64,400
|
Kalamazoo County
|
$67,000
|
City of Kalamazoo
|
$47,500
|
Edison [4]
|
$30,100
|
| Eastside |
$29,000
|
Northside [5]
|
$25,400
|
Geographical Location
|
Estimated 2018 Median Family Income
(ACS 2015 1-Year Estimates [3])
|
Kalamazoo-Portage MSA
|
$70,300
|
Kalamazoo County
|
$72,000
|
City of Kalamazoo
|
$49,500
|
In Kalamazoo, HUD’s calculation is based on Census track geography called Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area [2] (which includes Van Buren County) and the average income in this area, see table reference above. When different income ranges from the Kalamazoo area are used to determine cost of housing, we see an inconsistent sliding scale that creates inequity of housing affordability among neighborhoods.
For example, when a new development comes into low-income neighborhood using the larger area's income level to determine rental rates, the housing costs for those new units may be significantly higher than average rates in the neighborhood - even if those developments are named affordable. This could mean that current residents of the neighborhood may not be able to afford the rent.
It is easy to look at the numbers and see that something doesn’t add up. This is a problem across the state and the country in terms of balancing affordability with the cost to build and maintain safe, quality housing. But we have a unique opportunity with an increase in public and philanthropic resources to create new solutions and options that center what is affordable for our residents and neighbors.
As a collaborative, we need to better understand how housing costs as well as discrimination and other barriers impact housing stability in Kalamazoo. We commit to putting forth recommendations for both the local government and housing agencies by early next year that advance fair and affordable housing solutions in Kalamazoo, including a real definition of affordability that makes sense for our residents.
We encourage you to partner with us to see, hear, and understand fully the community needs around housing by sharing the housing survey below.
Click here to take or view the Housing Survey.
Missed the first article of this two-part series? Click here to read the first article.
Notes & References:
[1] The collaborative comprise of Michigan Department of Civil Rights, Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, Interfaith Strategies for Action and Advocacy in the Community (ISAAC), and Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
[2] 2012-2016 American Community Survey (ACS)
[3] This is based on data that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses to define Median Family Income and Income limits. This is based off 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data for the 2018 year. HUD uses ACS estimates to calculate what the estimated Median Family income should be using either 5-year or 1-year data, whichever is more recent and statistically accurate. For 2018, they use 1-year data which is not available at Census Tract level. The 5-year data is for comparison purposes only and does not reflect the exact numbers that HUD is using for 2018 calculations. These calculations can be found here.
[4] Edison neighborhood's Average Median Income (AMI) is a weighted average of the Median Family Income for Tract 9 and 10. Due to Edison neighborhood also overlaps part of Tract 11, it is only an estimate. The data was not available at Block Group Level so the addition of Tract 11 Block Group 1 could not be weighted into the average.
[5] Northside neighborhood's Average Median Income (AMI) is a weighted average of the Median Family Income for Tracts 2.02 and 3.
Summer has become my favorite season.
That’s when I see a year’s worth of planning come to life. As director of Kalamazoo in Bloom, I’m delighted to lead an organization that, like so many others, plays a part in making our communities the places where people love to live, work, play and visit. Daily, the continuous blooms and bright colors from the flowers we plant remind me why I love what I do.
It’s likely you’ve seen our floral displays and animal topiaries driving through downtown Kalamazoo and the City Centre in Portage – places like Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park with the peacock, CountyCourthouse, Transportation Center, and City Hall, as well as Portage’s canoe, Library Lane, City Hall, and Portage Senior Center. All of the flowers are planted in May by hundreds of volunteers committed to their communities and then maintained throughout the summer by volunteer bed adopters, alongside our gardeners.
Dolphin flower bed located in Bronson Park.
You’ll often see our gardeners and adopters tending the flowers. Their presence helps people make the connection that Kalamazoo in Bloom is responsible for the plantings. And when our volunteers receive recognition for their efforts from passersby, it reinforces why they love what they do.
Next year marks 35 years since Kalamazoo in Bloom formed (originally called Kalamazoo County Flowerfest). Reflecting on our history, there are many organizational partners, donors and community members to applaud for their support, both financially and in lending a helping hand. Our purpose, then and now, is to showcase annual flowers that Kalamazoo County is known for growing (and dubbed the bedding plant capital of the world). The beauty about annuals, with their assortment of colors, shapes and sizes, is that their life’s purpose is to impart tranquility and happiness to those around.
While our season winds down in the fall, plans for next year are already in motion. We invite you to our fundraiser, the Great Pumpkin Soiree, on November 7 at Cityscape. You’ll eat well, thanks to many area chefs, get a preview of next year’s topiary locations, and get first dibs on sponsoring your favorite animal. Find more at kalamazooinbloom.org under "Events."
Monika Trahe is the executive director of Kalamazoo in Bloom, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to plant locally grown flowers and plants in public spaces to beautify our metropolitan communities. Photos by John Seward for Kalamazoo in Bloom.
This was the fourth summer that we have offered Love Where You Live “Site Visits,” an opportunity for our donors to come together and learn directly from the amazing nonprofits working in our community.
The first year focused on collaboration, and we kicked the series off with a walk led by residents of the Burr Oak/Rose/Park/Wall area of Vine. The agencies working to transform these few blocks walked along to share details. We then met at the Land Bank to learn about the collaboration between the agencies involved in that site. Our donors loved coming together and hearing from nonprofits who have recently received grants from us, thanks to gifts to the Love Where You Live Fund. Based on their enthusiasm for learning more about our community and ways that they could get involved with support for, or volunteering with, the featured agencies, we have continued to create annual Site Visits.
Matt Lager from Kalamazoo Housing Neighborhood Services
For the second year, we brought the focus to the Eastwood/Eastside neighborhood. Most of those who joined us hadn’t been to this area because it is truly landlocked. People don’t drive through the neighborhood enroute to someplace else, so this was a wonderful area for our donors to explore. Agencies working with neighborhood residents shared their stories at Father Bart Hall. Our goal is to host the event at a nonprofit that has been a grantee, but that isn’t always possible, due to size and parking constraints. We then enjoyed a tour of Bow in the Clouds Preserve, led first by students from Eastside Strong who shared their nature riddles – and stumped us all. Nate Fuller from the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy finished our walk, explaining the flora, fauna, birds and insects that we encountered.
Last summer our focus turned to Edison and nonprofits working in that neighborhood. Presentations in July took place at our office (we’re at the edge of Edison!) followed by agency presentations and a tour at the Family Health Center.
This year we shifted our focus to food and housing. Our first event, food-focused, was held at Senior Services, followed by housing agencies presenting at the YMCA on Maple Street in their new meeting space.
Lucy Dilley from Can-Do Kitchen
Because the LWYL funds are endowed, unrestricted gifts made in 1950, 1977, or 2000 are still at work in our community and continuing to grow. One of the best ways to share the importance of unrestricted giving to the KZCF is for donors to hear impact stories from the nonprofits who have received grants from this unrestricted pool of funds.
Our guests are lifelong learners and greatly appreciated both the updates from the organizations they knew, as well as the great opportunity to hear from organizations that were completely new to them. In some instances, donors have made contributions to our presenting agencies. Others have connected as volunteers. But after each event donors thank us for both exposing them to new nonprofits as well as expanding their knowledge of those nonprofits they know. Our goals are to educate community members about the issues facing our citizens and the programming to address those issues, create awareness of the importance of unrestricted giving, and to raise the overall level of philanthropy in our community.
We’re currently discussing the possibilities for 2019. As much as our guests have learned, we know that there is lots more to discuss and many more opportunities for donor engagement. Find out how you can become a Love Where You Live Fund donor.
Watch KZCF Live videos featuring a few of the nonprofits highlighted from our 2018 Donor Site Visits below:
Coby Chalmers is a Donor Relations Officer at KZCF.
The idea came to me one evening last summer when I was driving to Pavilion Township for a township meeting. It had been more than six years since driving out there from Portage: a short peaceful drive, with no traffic, past continuous farm fields.
Not long after that, I was working with the Parchment Community Library (in Kalamazoo Township) about an event, and soon after that enjoyed an evening drive down to Vicksburg (Schoolcraft Township) to give a talk at its Historical Society.
All of this reminded me of the size, wonderful variety, and beauty of Kalamazoo County, which just happens to be the service area of KZCF. It’s easy to think of everything outside of Kalamazoo and Portage as “out-county;” however, in reality, it’s the reverse: Kalamazoo and Portage – while the center of business and nonprofit organizations – are actually geographic outliers.
The story of our county, covering 580 square miles with more than 260,000 residents, takes place throughout 15 townships (Alamo, Brady, Charleston, Climax, Cooper, Comstock, Kalamazoo, Oshtemo, Pavilion, Prairie Ronde, Richland, Ross, Schoolcraft, Texas, Wakeshma), five villages (Augusta, Climax, Richland, Schoolcraft, Vicksburg), and four cities (Galesburg, Kalamazoo, Parchment, Portage). This link takes you to more information about each of these communities (www.kalcounty.com/cities-links).
A drive around all four corners of our county (the next step in my epiphany), will begin in Alamo in the northwest corner, heading east and turning south at Ross, south to Wakeshma, and west to Prairie Ronde before heading north back up to Alamo. I'm looking forward to truly discovering Kalamazoo County along the way.
During my last Army assignment before The Upjohn Company brought me to Kalamazoo County (almost 30 years ago!), I worked with a PR-pro who lived near Fort Knox, Ky. Early-on, each night when he left, he’d say, “I’m going to the house.” Confused, I finally said, “You mean you’re going home?” He said, “No, I’m already home,” since Fort Knox was in his beloved county.
So, that’s something to think about – no matter which part of our county you live in – when you re-enter Kalamazoo County and pass the “Enter Kalamazoo County” sign, you’re home.
Tom Vance is a communications officer at KZCF.
June was a month that really brought out my pride, in who I am and where I live. Every June is LGBTQ Pride Month and every year OutFront Kalamazoo puts on Kalamazoo Pride, an event that brings thousands of people covered in rainbows, glitter and smiles to downtown Kalamazoo for an incredible weekend event. And every year is fabulous. But, this year felt like the best year yet.
Maybe it was because of the rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of South Street and S. Rose Street. Perhaps, it was the Pride banners up and down the Kalamazoo Mall. Or it could be due to City Hall being lit up in rainbow the weekend of Pride. Actually, I think it was all of these combined with seeing so many people enjoying a sense of community at Kalamazoo Pride, that made me particularly proud this year.
Kalamazoo PRIDE 2018
I know firsthand, that to be LGBTQ in this country, when the administration is rolling back rights and implementing discriminatory executive orders and legislation, often feels unsafe. And to live in Michigan, one of 30 states where LGBTQ people can be fired just for being LGBTQ, can feel scary. That’s part of why Pride Month felt more important to me this year. To be able to offer a space where LGBTQ families could feel safe and proud to be themselves when they might not have other safe and welcoming spaces is amazing.
Pride Month began out of an act of resistance, led by trans women of color and today it continues to be a political event, where LGBTQ people and our allies claim spaces and demand equality. It’s about being seen, and being loved and celebrated as our authentic selves. It’s about creating community. It’s about the brave act to love who you are in a world that often tells you not to.
This year Kalamazoo Pride (held on June 8- 9) welcomed more than 7,000 people and over 100 local vendors and organizations. All proceeds from Kalamazoo Pride benefit OutFront Kalamazoo, the LGBTQ community center serving southwest Michigan.
Jay Maddock is the executive director of OutFront Kalamazoo and an out and proud trans man living in Kalamazoo.
Have We Made the Right Difference as Community Foundations?
By Carrie Pickett-Erway
June 7, 2018
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk at YWCA’s Stand Against Racism event about the field of philanthropy and the racial equity evolution that has transpired among community foundations across the country. It began with an important question about making a difference in our community.
Community foundations represent 800 of the 86,000 foundations in the United States, with the first community foundation founded in 1914. More than 60 years later, community foundations in the field began to ask themselves, “Have we made a difference?” More importantly, “Have we made the right difference?” If our goal is to change the life trajectory for our most vulnerable and yet we respond to symptoms within big systemic issues, our results cannot improve outcomes for the marginalized and oppressed.
Since the late 1970s, philanthropy has been leaning into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with intentionality and with a growing base of supporters. The early stages of the conversation about diversity and representation within the field focused on seeking out the voices of women, people of color and other marginalized voices. Affinity groups began to form to help lift under represented voices, such as the Association of Black Foundation Executives, Women and Philanthropy, National Lesbian and Gay Funders, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, and many more. More initiatives, programs and dedicated funding for DEI began to emerge, such as the African American Men and Boys initiative and Funds for Communities of Color. Sadly, most of these efforts were small, short-term efforts.
In the 1990s, the community foundation field started to focus on our own learning with the first DEI national conference breakout session focusing on “Sustaining Diversity in the Workplace.” A notable effort was launched from 2010 to 2014 to track the growth of diverse leaders in the field. Unfortunately, the percentage of full-time executive staff who were people of color only rose from 12 to 16 percent and women in leadership roles remained flat. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
A few significant foundations have recently made big shifts in the area of inclusion and equity. In the southwest Michigan region, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a trailblazer in this area, especially with the America Healing initiative – 10 years of work in racial healing that ignited millions of people and created a community focused on race. The Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) framework is one of the outcomes of that significant body of work.
TRHT is unique in its approach, specifically:
- The intentional packaging of technical resources available for implementation
- Using community foundations as a vehicle for grounding in community, and
- Requiring an endowment to sustain the effort.
Kalamazoo Community Foundation has also been on this journey of change, beginning in the late 1990s. In the last 15 years we have:
- Implemented new policies that require grantees to strive for greater inclusion
- Invested in capacity building for equity-focused agencies and for mainstream organizations to deepen their racial equity understanding
- Launched initiatives specific to DEI, such as the LGBTQ Equity Fund, diversity training assessment project, the racial equity initiative, and others
- Expanded the racial diversity of our staff, grantmaking committee and board over the last 10 years
- Deepened learning efforts for our staff and board with training, reading, dialogue and practice in equity curricula.
We have, with great intentionality, many stumbles and a few successes, worked at embedding equity within our own organization. This will continue to be a work in progress for the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the TRHT journey will be at the heart of our change. It will force us to face some hard truths and change practices that are deeply embedded in our DNA. These changes will be difficult, but it is the only way we can realize the vision of a great community – a community where the barriers of racism are removed so that every person can reach their full potential.
Carrie Pickett-Erway is the President and CEO of Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
Farewell To Vicksburg's Charlie Glaes
By Sue Moore
May 15, 2018
I realize the passing of time when it comes to Superintendent Charlie Glaes announcing his retirement.
There have only been seven individuals holding that title in Vicksburg since WWII, beginning with Bill Taylor. He initiated a seismic shift in the school district by consolidating the outlying country schools. Old timers might remember what a collision of values that created with the townies vs. the country kids taking up seats right beside each other in the classroom for the first time in 1948.
Those were not the good old days in my memory bank. We were crowded into classrooms at what is now the Administration building, the most fun being a secret ride down the fire escape on the south side of the building. There were so many students that some grades had to be outsourced to other buildings in the village.
Each succeeding superintendent, Ken Otis, Larry Cole, Denny McMahon, Pete Wharton, Pat Reeves, and Charlie, has left his legacy on the school district. What has distinguished their time in charge has been the cooperation between administration and the school board members.
The people who have been willing to give of their time and intellect have been the glue that make receiving a quality education in the Vicksburg school district happen. I remember in my era with great fondness the ones who set the standard: Dr. Arle Schneider, Denny Boyle, Dr. Lloyd Appell and Skip Knowles. They led as presidents when money was tight and the will to tax ourselves was not always apparent.
Fortunately, the citizens of the school district have seen fit to keep the buildings in good order with funding for repairs, while the state suffered through some hard times. Local control has been the mantra since consolidation, but when we choose to accept the money from the state of Michigan, much of that goes by the wayside. The seven superintendents I’ve mentioned have been great keepers of the flame.
Now it’s time to pass it forward to a new leader who will benefit greatly from all that has been accomplished over the last 70 plus years.
Sue Moore is editor of South County News.
Investing In Women Strengthens Families And Communities
By Meredith Bradford
April 19, 2018
Having worked as the Kalamazoo Community Foundation scholarship coordinator for the past year, I’ve had the privilege of communicating with many scholarship applicants as they prepare, submit, and eagerly await decisions regarding their scholarship applications. Each stage of the process elicits a variety of emotions from applicants – anxiety, hope, frustration, joy. I find myself sharing these emotions as I speak or email with students. Their enthusiasm (or sadness) is contagious.
My strongest emotional reactions have come from working with the applicants and recipients of the Women’s Education Coalition (WEC), a scholarship program that provides “grant assistance to women who are currently underemployed and are in need of education to become financially self-sufficient.” I’m very passionate about this renewable scholarship and granting program that prioritizes working mothers. WEC applicants and recipients are strong, inspiring individuals who overcome personal tragedy and systemic disenfranchisement.
I vividly recall one phone call last spring when I had the privilege of informing an applicant she was invited to interview for the WEC. As she answered the phone I could hear the hectic background clamor of kids’ voices and television. I quickly introduced myself and informed her the WEC committee selected her for an interview. At first there was silence and I wasn’t sure she was able to hear me over the commotion. But then I could hear her crying. “I’ve had the worst day. This is what I needed right now, thank you, thank you,” she said. I fought back my own tears as I proceeded to schedule her interview. She eventually was awarded a 2017 WEC scholarship.
The WEC provides the opportunity for incredible, determined women to realize their education goals. It is humbling to know that the WEC and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation are pieces in a larger community puzzle of providing the necessary support to achieve these goals.
Interested in applying for the WEC? Read more about the scholarship and download an application here.
A growing body of research demonstrates that investing in women strengthens families and communities. The WEC is a vital, direct way to invest in Kalamazoo. You can donate here.
Meredith, a scholarship coordinator at KZCF.
Find Your Cause April 18
By Raven Britt
March 28, 2018
‘Tis the season for Find Your Cause! Last year’s event really shed light on how much Kalamazoo County wanted to help its fellow community members.
I don’t want to say that I was surprised at that huge turnout last year. But, I was! There were over 150 people that stopped by and signed up to volunteer with the 16 agencies that were highlighted at last year’s event.
There were people of all ages, coming in via all modes of transportation (shout out to the guy to happened to see us while riding by on his bike). And more importantly, at the end of day connections were made in our community.
This year’s Find Your Cause will be same as last year, except it’s going to be bigger and better!
There’s a new location (The Foundry), and we’ve almost doubled the number of agencies (this year we have 31). KZCF and Gryphon Place want to make sure that we’re able to connect as many people as possible. So please spread the word.
Helen Keller said it best, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
See you on April 18 at The Foundry! #lovewhereyoulive
Click here to learn more about Find Your Cause event on our Facebook page.
Raven, a development officer at KZCF, serves on several community boards.
Honoring Our Shared Humanity
by Martha Gonzalez-Cortez
January 9th, 2018
January 16 will be the second National Day of Healing in our community. Each year, it will be on the Tuesday after MLK Day.
Many people might be asking, why do we need this day of healing? How is healing connected to our work toward ending racism?
The National Day of Healing is an opportunity for people and communities to acknowledge the deep and ongoing pain caused by racism and the need for healing on a personal, cultural, and systemic level. Different people need different things to heal based on individual identities and experiences – learning and reflection through discussion for some; truth-telling, art, movement, and music other others.
I know from personal experience that the anger stemming from the impact of racism and injustice can be a blinding and destructive force. For many years in the first decade of my career, anger was my motivation and mentor. It fueled my passion for the social justice work I was involved in and served as a constant companion. I called it my armor as a tribute to the false sense of strength and security it offered as I navigated the daily struggles of the communities I served.
And then my life and career took a turn in 2008 when I met the leadership of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and got drawn into this emerging racial equity and racial healing work. Hundreds of organizational leaders and racial equity practitioners from across the country convened on a regular basis to discuss our work, our challenges and constraints, and consider the possibility of creating a new community of peers to strengthen and support our individual efforts.
It took me almost five years to understand the impact of that relationship building and healing work that laid the groundwork for the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) efforts that have now been launched in 14 communities across the country, including Kalamazoo.
What lessons did I learn after five years of resistance to the power of healing?
• There can be multiple points of entry, intensity, and pace to the healing work, and no two people will experience this work in the same way.
• Anger is not only destructive, it is toxic. And, if you work 24/7 on issues of social justice with anger serving as the guiding force of your work, that toxicity will follow you home and have a corrosive effect on your health, your family, and wellbeing. If you step away from the anger and give this healing work a chance, what comes next is clarity and the potential for strategic effectiveness you might never have experienced before in your work.
• Last, but not least, the anger that once served as your armor and constant companion can be replaced by a new community of peers and allies that can sustain and grow the impact of your life’s work.
If you care deeply about Kalamazoo, there’s never been a more important time than the present to build a stronger community with a voice for truth, a passion for healing, and a racial equity lens for justice and transformation. It’s a tall order, but I believe this community has the passion and the will for this work. We all have a role to play as we start to recognize our shared humanity and the ways racism has harmed us all in different ways.
Kalamazoo Community Foundation is among 100 local organizational and individual partners committed to the W.K. Kellogg Foundations TRHT work, of which the National Day of Racial Healing is a part. TRHT is a national and community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change, and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism.
Read about the nationwide efforts at www.healourcommunities.org and follow what’s happening around the country by using the hashtag #NDORH. There are also different ways to join this conversation here in Kalamazoo. We hope you will join us on this journey.
Read more at: http://www.kalfound.org/About/WhatsNew/ViewArticle/tabid/190/ArticleId/216/National-Day-of-Racial-Healing.aspx
Martha Gonzalez-Cortes is vice president for Community Investment.
Kalamazoo County is Extraordinary
By Joanna Donnelly Dales
December 20, 2017
As I write this, I am filled with gratitude. I am grateful for my family, my colleagues, this community, and ordinary things -- at least they seem ordinary to me.
I have a large extended family led by my 91-year-old mother who, despite significant physical limitations, has an amazing attitude and adventuresome spirit. She gives me hope.
My talented and dedicated colleagues inspire me every day with their efforts to make Kalamazoo County a better place for all of us.
And not too long ago I had a weekend that exemplifies why I love where I live. The weekend started out on a sour note with a trip to the emergency room, but my friend got top-notch care and we were out in no time. Next was a trip to the farmers market and then to El Ranchero to pick up some delicious tamales.
On Sunday, I had the pleasure of running through the woods at Pretty Lake Camp to raise money so kids can have a camp experience a few miles – and a million miles – from home. Several hours later, I sat amazed at the Gilmore Rising Stars concert listening to the unparalleled talents of Christine and Michelle Naughton on two beautiful Steinways. This is a fairly ordinary weekend in Kalamazoo, which is why I find Kalamazoo County so extraordinary.
I am also grateful for what many others may regard as ordinary – a good job, health care, a roof over my head, and food on my table.
But not everyone is so lucky. And that’s why at KZCF we use your gifts to address the urgent and long-term needs of our neighbors. We don’t want anyone in our community to worry about employment, housing, medical care, or food. We want these to be ordinary staples of living here so everyone can share in the extraordinary beauty and bounty that Kalamazoo has to offer.
Please consider making a gift to one of our Love Where You Live funds as you go about loving where you live this holiday season.
https://connect.kalfound.org/give-now
Joanna Donnelly Dales is vice president for Donor Relations.
Resiliency through Shared Experience
By Tina Robbins
December 6th, 2017
Somedays I hear about the journeys that our families and youth have taken and I am proud of them for how they have creatively not just overcome their challenges, but have used them to grow and make positive changes in their own and others’ lives. As a parent of an amazing teenager with an autism diagnosis, we have had some really tough times in our family’s life similar to the families involved with ASK Family Services. Somehow, we navigated our way through and came up with new strategies and ideas. I reflect on those days and try and remember what helped us through the hardest times.
Kalamazoo is an amazing community with many resources and we were lucky enough to have a group of dedicated people who walked along side us every day. We found these people in the schools, at the local gas station, the gym, the grocery store, WMU, our family, our neighbors, physicians, local non-profits, and most importantly for us, others who were or had faced similar challenges. It was those who had conquered challenges like ours that really understood what was helpful and what was not. They were the people who knew what might help even if we didn’t at the time. Our journey has made us who we are today, resilient.
Sometimes as a parent of a child with special needs, school or other meetings can feel like they are focused around the challenges your child is experiencing. I believe this occurs because we put our energy on intervening in “problem” areas. Although I agree that this is critical to the safety of everyone in those environments, I have found that when we focus on only the struggles, we don’t always see the strengths that we each bring to the world. Sometimes, we share hope by helping parents see the strengths that their child has and how these can translate into longer term goals like employment, independence, and improved self-esteem.
We have heard from our families that they sometimes feel like service providers come into their home and tell them what they need to “change” without fully understanding their family. For real change and improvements to happen, we all need to buy in to the work we are doing if we are to be successful. We believe that our role is to help the family decide what changes or interventions are important to them and help them achieve them through support, resource sharing, encouragement, and by strategically sharing parts of our own families’ successes and experiences. We believe that our voice as parents and youth are critical to continuing to improve the way we deliver services to people.
That is why our Calling All Youth, Motivating Others Through Voices of Experience program’s role is so critical to our community. Not only do they inform service providers, they also develop youth leadership skills through their activities like public speaking and sharing their stories to help reduce stigma around mental health.
I believe that ASK Family Services supports our youth and families in a way that is unique and beneficial and encourages them to lead their services, use their voice, have hope, and see our community as a resource which leads to the strengthening of their families own resiliency. Having someone who “gets it” and is there to support us and listen, can help us feel not so alone. That is what we are all about at ASK Family Services.
Tina Robbins, LMSW, is executive director of ASK Family Services.
Wicked Lessons
By Sharon Brown
October 27, 2017
I had the amazing good fortune to be able to see the musical “Wicked” in Grand Rapids last weekend.
The music and lyrics connect with me in such a deep way, it moved me to tears. Admittedly, I respond to beautiful music with tears regularly, but the story of a talented and caring young woman who is forced to choose between honoring what she knows to be right or doing what is popular and expected is a powerful one. And in this case, it is set against the backdrop of a charismatic leader engaged in a misinformation campaign of fear and confusion designed to distract the citizens from what’s going on “behind the curtain.”
Eerily timely, no?
Art is most powerful when we relate to it, when it reflects our own experiences in new and thoughtful ways. And the good old “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was full of pointed one liners that helped this show do just that. Like when he rebuts a protest of his lies by saying “The truth isn't a thing of fact, or reason. It's simply what everyone agrees on.” Or when he explains his plan to shore up unity amongst the people of Oz by saying “Where I'm from, the best way to bring people together... is to give them a really good enemy.”
In our current political climate, it is impossible to hear these lines without hearing “fake news” or thinking of the way immigrants and refugees have become the popular target for the blame and frustrations of so many Americans. We are in the midst of a great American existential crisis as we try to define what is “truth” – do we believe the Wizard, it’s just what we all agree on? Or do we believe in objective facts and reason? Do we succumb to our baser instincts and build walls between ourselves and a common enemy? Or do we work together to build bridges and foster understanding across our differences?
The characters see the Wizard’s charade, understand the gravity of allowing one segment of their community to be vilified and ostracized, and come together to defend truth, justice and the Ozian way…with humor and music along the way.
If you get the chance to see the show, take it. And in the meantime, we all can work to balance the less-than-wonderful-wizards in our real world by refusing to see neighbors as enemies, or fantasy as reality. I do believe that we can make things better, and, to quote the lyrics one more time: “Some things I cannot change, But till I try, I'll never know!”
Sharon is a member of the Leadership and Governance Team here at KZCF
Looking Beyond Stigma
By Michelle Houtrow
October 11, 2017
Earlier this month, Kaiser Permanente released results of a national poll on mental health attitudes and perceptions. The good news: Seventy percent of those polled said people are more open about discussing mental health issues than 10 years ago.
The not-so-good news: “Stigma and misperceptions still exist that may prevent people from speaking up and getting help.” For example, more than half of those polled indicated they viewed depression as caused in part by a personal weakness or failing.
Stigma like this affects individuals with substance use disorders, as well. People will still claim addiction is a personal choice or a moral failure, when in fact we’ve learned it’s a complex brain disease that alters neural pathways beyond the reach of mere “willpower.”
Even people living with developmental disabilities can’t escape the reach of stigma. For individuals born with mental and/or physical differences that affect language, mobility and learning, stigma often takes the form of false assumptions: that they lead joyless lives, that they are “less than,” and that they can’t live independently.
We like to think of stigma as something old – medieval, even – but clearly, it’s alive in 2017. Whenever we hold a negative attitude or belief that makes us avoid, label, reject, stereotype, and/or discriminate against others, we’re perpetuating and strengthening stigma. It’s the failure to look beyond our differences and see the human being behind the label that we are attempting to change through the #BEstigmaFREE efforts.
For those on the receiving end, the impact is staggering: Stigma triggers shame. It discourages people from seeking help. It also encourages bullying, rejection, discrimination, and even incarceration of people who are struggling. Stigma marginalizes people who may already be feeling vulnerable and disconnected.
All these factors are impacting people in our community right now. You can see the ripple effects of stigma in adults, families, children and young adults trying to make their way in Kalamazoo County. You can see it in the disparate economic, educational and health outcomes that persist among different populations. While Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services is proud to have provided high-quality services and resources to thousands of community members for over 50 years, we share with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation a strong belief in the need for systemic change.
That’s why we’re so excited to be launching a new initiative called #LookBeyond: #BEstigmaFREE Kalamazoo. #LookBeyond is a campaign to reduce stigma and increase understanding, support, and positive attitudes toward people living with and affected by mental health, substance use and/or developmental challenges throughout Kalamazoo County.
#Look Beyond envisions a future where all members of our community make a pledge to:
• Listen to people who live with mental health, substance use, and/or developmental challenges, to gain understanding
• Educate themselves about these challenges by using community resources (like taking Mental Health First Aid Training)
• Treat every person as a valuable member of our community
• Speak Up for fair and respectful treatment of all people
• Get Others Involved with the #Look Beyond campaign
• Optimize their own wellness
Our official #LookBeyond Campaign Launch Celebration event is Tuesday, Oct. 17th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan Kalamazoo Program and Training Center, 601 W. Maple Street, Kalamazoo, Mich. 49008. It’s FREE and open to the public. (While no tickets are required, we encourage RSVPs at lookbeyondlaunch.eventbrite.com.) Guests will hear from individuals who’ve experienced and overcome stigma, enjoy refreshments, and have the opportunity to participate in several hands-on activities designed to express and share their voices. We’ll also have local organizations on site with resources related to mental health, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities.
Please join the movement to #BEstigmaFREE and help us build a stronger, more welcoming community. Celebrate with us on Oct. 17 and/or visit LookBeyondStigma.org to keep updated on future campaign activities. Together, we can #LookBeyond stigma – and love where we live even more.
Michelle is a Program Manager of Services for Youth and Families at Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services and Project Director for Kalamazoo Wraps System of Care.
Still much work ahead
Dr. Agustin V. Arbulu | October 4, 2017
On a warm July night in 1967, my father, then a young surgeon, got a call from the hospital. “Doc, we need you.” Papa told me later that police escorted him all the way to Detroit Receiving. He was gone for days.
When he finally came home, he was exhausted and shell-shocked. He told us about the never-ending stream of wounded and dying in and out of his surgery. I will never forget what he said.
“Agustin, there were bodies everywhere. It was like a war zone.”
I was 17 and had just graduated from Dearborn’s Edsel Ford High. We had immigrated to Detroit from Peru four years earlier. Mixed with my Hispanic heritage is DNA from Africa and Asia; I did not look like most of my classmates. In my new Michigan home, I experienced first-hand the bias and racism that people of color in Detroit had spent their entire lives immersed in.
As we reflect on the 50th anniversary of those explosive days, it would be wrong to argue that little has changed, or that the poverty, racism and the lack of opportunity that helped spark the Detroit rebellion have not improved.
But just how successful have we been in narrowing the gaps between white and black? Research tells us it’s a mixed bag. Differences in household income, wealth, and homeownership are as wide or wider today than they were in 1967. The incarceration rate for black men is more than six times higher than that of white men, and slightly higher than in 1960. But the gap in high school completion rates between blacks and whites has narrowed, as has the difference in life expectancy.
Two troubling indicators stand out. Since 2007, the gap in income and wealth between blacks and whites has widened. And the difference in the poverty rate between black and white families has increased since 1984, the year researchers began measuring it.
Analyzing 16 indicators of racial equality and integration, a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center ranked Michigan near the bottom of all the states: 45th overall, 44th in employment and wealth, 38th in education and civic engagement, 46th in health.
We have a lot of work yet to do. I believe if we want to build a multiracial, pluralistic society, we must focus on 3 key principles.
1. Make equity our goal. We cannot focus solely on diversity and inclusion; we must shift our attention toward equity. If equality means everyone has the same resources, equity means everyone has the resources they need to compete on an equal footing. The playing field is not level under all of us. Policies and practices long in place have gouged out the ground on which some of us stand. We must target ways to fill in those holes.
2. Recognize unconscious, or implicit, bias. The human brain is efficient, making instantaneous judgements based on stereotypes and past conditioning that directly affect our actions. We all have these unconscious impulses, we all act on them, and we are almost always unaware that we do. But implicit bias does not have to be permanent. We can reprime our brains over time. Awareness is an important first step toward reducing the power implicit bias has over us.
3. Focus on racial impact, not racial intent. If everyone is motivated by unconscious bias – actions and reactions based on conditioning that operates outside of our awareness – then looking only at racial intent makes little sense. Most people don't want to be racists and don’t believe they are. While we must stand up to overt racism whenever it appears, we must also focus on changing the structural and embedded policies, processes and practices that lead to racially-disparate outcomes in areas such as education, housing, employment and health.
We live in challenging times, especially when it comes to issues of racial justice. To do the work that remains, we must build up our emotional muscle. For people of color, the recent flare up of racial hatred and the reflection on a dark time 50 years ago touches on some very old, very deep wounds. Rumi, the great Muslim poet, said, “The wound is where the light enters you.” As I remember the painful events of 1967, I am determined to look for the light. I hope you will as well.
Dr. Agustin V. Arbulu is director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. This is reprinted by permission.
Something not to like about Kalamazoo
Rem Cabrera | September 27, 2017
I found something not to like about Kalamazoo. Finally. The Macy’s at the mall closes at 8 on Tuesday nights.
There you have it. Proof that I’m no Pollyanna about my new town.
(Yes, I know the Macy’s is in Portage. Details.)
Self-defense is necessary, because when I’m asked about adjusting to life in Kalamazoo, and I say I love being here, and have since Day One, the response is too often a look of muted disbelief. How can someone from Chicago not have a hard time adjusting to the quieter pace of Kalamazoo?
What’s not to like?
Trees?
Good.
Nice people?
Good.
Easy commutes?
Good.*
One of the main attractions of Kalamazoo was our discovery of The Kalamazoo Promise. For two older Dads worrying about paying college tuition during retirement, The Promise is manna from above. At the end of their first day at Winchell Elementary, our two ten-year olds clambered into the car, excited about having made new friends. A few classmates welcomed them with hand-made gifts. Not a hint of homesickness.
We now live in a house with more than twice the amount of space we had before, inside and out. Our White Shepherd has a fenced-in yard to race around in.
(Oh: the kids do too.)
Our property taxes are down this year, thanks to the generosity of local philanthropists. We attend more events as a family. Activities are more affordable; contemplating the logistics of how to get to them isn’t in itself exhausting. There’s no shortage of good places to eat, and the Farmer’s Market is a delight. The abundance of trees provides beauty and serenity. I could go on, but this blog would tip over from the weight of so many words.
Love where you live? Oh sure.
*Here I’m channeling my inner Joey Tribiani, the master of the moo point.
Rem is a community engagement specialist who recently relocated to Kalamazoo.
The strength of the human spirit
Carrie Pickett-Erway | September 19, 2017
Working at the Community Foundation gives me incredible opportunities to observe the strength of the human spirit. I witness heroic acts every day. Stories of resilience surround me every day.
Last week, the Hispanic American Council convened community leaders for a conversation with Rep. Fred Upton and students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Several young people shared their stories – incredible stories of survival, hard work and perseverance.
One young man shared the story of his journey, arriving in this country at the age of six. His parents understood the risks they were taking, but desperately wanted a better life for their child. He talked about being afraid, being bullied in school. Harassed because he was different, speaking a different language, not knowing the culture. Over time, he found support from teachers and eventually he emerged as a leader. He began working at a very young age and spoke with great pride about his first pay check. He was happy to see both the wages AND the taxes – a sign that he was supporting himself AND paying his country back. “Let me do it," he said. "Let me give back to this beautiful country.” He spoke passionately about this community that provided him with shelter during a very difficult time. He spoke about his deep and earnest desire to give back to his community. Now, in college, he is serving as the leader of an on-campus student organization. He is helping other young people to find a way to give back to their community, the only home they have known.
While we debate the policies around DACA, we can’t forget the people. Families, parents and children. These families have overcome incredible adversity. These are courageous parents committed first and foremost to the wellbeing of their children. They fled economic hardship and at times physical violence for the opportunity to work hard, no handouts, no short cuts.
We also need to recognize the people who stand by these families, the staff and volunteers from nonprofit organizations who are connecting them to food, shelter, counseling, etc. Agencies who fight for justice every day. Kalamazoo is a special place, one where the vulnerable can feel welcomed. A place where local partners are among the best in the area, walking side by side with these families toward a better life.
Rep. Upton has shown a commitment to influence others in his party and across the aisle, as we pursue solutions for DACA students. We have many complex problems to solve in our country and DACA can be an example of bi-partisan cooperation. Congress must provide the President with a bill to ensure a direct path to citizenship for childhood arrivals, and one that protects and secures the information these families have voluntarily provided.
Working at the Community Foundation gives me incredible opportunities to observe the strength of the human spirit. I witness heroic acts every day. Stories of resilience surround me every day. I hope these young people, their families and their stories are part of our community for years to come.
Carrie is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's president/CEO.
Friday night lessons and lights
Sharon Brown | September 13, 2017
After a beautiful summer, the first week of September Mother Nature shouted It’s football season! and filled the evening air with a cool crispness that feels like fall. I was excited to go out to cheer for the home team on Friday night for the first home high school football game of the 2017 season. As I walked in the stadium, the cool fall air felt warmed by the hum of community:
Over there is the student section, cheering on the team with school spirit and face paint – teenagers making memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Watch out as the middle school kids come weaving through the crowd, wandering around socializing with that first taste of pre-teen freedom.
Wave to the parents and neighbors in the bleachers, wearing school colors and clapping along with the fight song as they root for the home team.
And then there are the volunteers. The helpful folks selling tickets at the gate. The athletic boosters selling blankets and bleacher seats. The band boosters selling t-shirts and stickers. The senior class reps walking around selling 50/50 raffle tickets for GradBash. The volunteer crew making popcorn and hot dogs in the concession stand. Dozens of folks, dedicated to their kids, to their school, to their community – coming out on a Friday night to do the behind the scenes work that makes the whole thing possible.
Much has been written about the valuable life lessons playing football can teach. But maybe less has been said about the life lessons going to a high school football game can teach us, so let me give it a try:
Community is at its best when there is space for everyone. Whether you’re there to watch the game, to see your neighbors, or wander with friends, we want you to know there’s a place for you to feel at home.
Community is at its best when we support each other. When the team does great, we cheer hard; when the team gets down, we cheer harder; because we genuinely want to see them succeed.
Community is at its best when we all help carry the load. Volunteers are the backbone of any community – the ones who do all the behind the scenes work that makes everything work. And although we couldn’t do it without the volunteers, we also need the fans to buy the concessions and t-shirts and 50/50 tickets or the whole endeavor would be in vain. Each person has a role to play.
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation may not have consensus about which high school team to root for (Go Mattawan!), but I still think we agree on putting those football lessons to work. Through our priorities of equity and education we strive to make space and opportunity for everyone. Through our vision of a community where every person can reach full potential we strive to allow others to find success. And through our Love Where You Live Funds we invite all to help carry the load. Whether it’s a $5 donation or $5 million, these dollars work together to help fund the amazing work of our local nonprofits and volunteers who are making Kalamazoo a better place.
From Friday football fans to Monday morning meetings, I love being a part of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to help make sure we all can love where we live.
Sharon came to the Community Foundation in the spring of 2016 and is a member of our Leadership and Governance team. In addition to being a football fan and her work on pubic policy, she assists our president/CEO.
Suicide prevention: We all have a role to play
Lacee Lyons | September 6, 2017
Many of us have been impacted by suicide. Many of us know someone who died by suicide, someone who attempted, someone who struggled or continues to struggle with thoughts of suicide; we may be struggling ourselves. As a leading yet preventable cause of death, suicide is one of the biggest public health issues we face today.
Far too many lives have been lost to suicide. We have so much more work to do. At the same time, we also need to talk about those of us who are surviving. Every day, people are reaching out, asking for help, and surviving. They are finding ways to cope. Last year, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline answered over 10 million crisis calls. Gryphon Place alone answered over 40,000 crisis calls from our community and beyond. That's a lot of people making the often difficult choice to ask for help when they need it, which is the very best thing we can do for ourselves when we are in crisis. Many people ask for help every day and they are surviving.
National Suicide Prevention Month is a time for communities across the country to focus on saving lives, but these efforts are happening all year long. We all have a role to play in suicide prevention every day – it's everyone's business. We want everyone to be safe and healthy – but most of us also have a particular person in mind that we want to be safe and healthy. It may be our child, it may be our friend or a family member, a colleague we work with, it may be our neighbor, and it may be ourselves. We want people to live, and that starts with each one of us.
How can we help?
We can be honest about our own struggles and the ways we have worked hard to make it through them. We can be honest about our own health care and self-care. Publicly, like the amazing youth who performed at Messages of Hope last year, or privately in our own personal circles. We can live by example by asking for help when we need it.
We can learn and know the signs of a suicidal crisis. We can be willing to be the person to reach out to those in need. We can assume that we are the only one who will reach out, and that it has to be us. Be ready to guide others to resources that can help to change the way they see their situation and can provide some measure of hope, even if it's tiny, because that can be what it takes to see tomorrow. Hopelessness is terrible, but hopelessness can change.
Suicide most often happens when stressors exceed the current coping abilities of someone suffering from a mental health condition. Which means that tomorrow, our ability to cope can be different, tomorrow how hopeful we feel can change, and tomorrow can provide us with the help we need to cope and to thrive. It's not simple and it’s not easy, but we can get through that moment. There is help available. You are not alone. None of us are.
If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs immediate emotional support, please call 269-381-HELP.
Gryphon Place has been helping those in conflict and crisis since 1970. Gryphon Place answers an anonymous, confidential 24-hour crisis line 269-381-HELP and is part of the national Lifeline Network, 1-800-273-TALK; teaches youth suicide prevention through The Gatekeeper Program to nearly 4,000 youth every year; and offers Survivors of Suicide support groups. Gryphon Place can help you get through your tough moments.
Gryphon Place is hosting many activities for Suicide Prevention Month. Join the 5k-walk, youth community performance, trainings and more. Learn more and register at gryphon.org/events.
Lacee Lyons is chief operating officer at Gryphon Place and coordinator, Kalamazoo County Suicide Prevention Action Network.
Back to school tools
Danielle Sielatycki | August 30, 2017
It is almost that time again. Back to school. We often think of the “tools” our young people need as physical items. A pencil is a “tool” to write with, a “calculator” is a tool to help with math class, and a backpack is a “tool” to help carry supplies.
With school around the corner, everyone is helping the children in our community get prepared. I started seeing the supplies being put out at local stores, the back to schools sales are starting.
As adults and parents, it is important to not only pay attention to the physical items our students need but also understand the other “tools” that provide the support that they need to succeed. We need to look beyond just success in academics and also include support for students’ cognitive, physical and emotional needs.
Prevention Works services and programs provide young people with the “tools” in order to be educated, well rounded and healthy individuals so that they can be their best. We are part of the education echo system that support young people and our programs lead to improvements in a wide range of student academic, health and social outcomes.
Not only does a student need a calculator to do algebra, but they also need to know how to practice refusal skills when a friend offers them drugs. Each school year brings new obstacles our young people need to overcome. When young people are also equipped with tools to handle cognitive and emotional stressors, they perform better academically. These other “tools” are important, we cannot leave youth without them in their back to school backpacks.
As parents and adults we can continue to make sure that services and programs that help build these tools are in our schools, after school centers, and embedded in our community. In the meantime, you can help your child or a young person think about the “tools” they need to achieve their goals whether they are personal or educational. You can do this by:
- Talking about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and other high risk behaviors
- Discussing ways in which your child can resist peer pressure
- Getting them involved in activities outside of school that help them develop both socially and emotionally
- Letting them know they can come to you if they have questions or want to know more
Another opportunity to get young people more tools before they return to school is by attending the 2017 Youth Summit: Live Energized, Live Above the Influence. The free event is filled with games, giveaways, and interactive learning sessions on living above the influence. Youth will leave with knowledge about the dangers of drugs and alcohol along with ways to be a leader and stand up to negative influences. For more information and to register, go to prevention-works.org/summit2017.
To learn more about helping youth gain the tools they need to make healthy decisions and about the programs Prevention Works offers, visit prevention-works.org.
Danielle is the executive director of Prevention Works.
We are being called
Carrie Pickett-Erway | August 22, 2017
While people on this continent have experienced racism and hate since before America was even a country, this moment feels different.
Perhaps it’s because we thought we had made more progress than we have. Perhaps it’s because the man in the highest position of power and privilege in the country – and others in positions of power and privilege – failed to unequivocally denounce racism and hate. Perhaps it’s because this moment shows we can all, in different ways, be impacted by hate and violence fueled by white supremacy.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” These words feel more relevant now than ever as we watch leaders’ neutrality embolden groups that once operated in secret. This moment forces us to question the intentions of those who remain neutral.
This moment feels different and requires more than neutrality. From white people – such as myself – especially. We must show up, speak up and take action. Our silence is heard loud and clear. We must confront the false notion that some lives are more valuable than others.
We believe Kalamazoo County and communities throughout the country have a path to end racism. We believe this path is through personal responsibility, educating ourselves and others about racism, engaging in a healing process that includes everyone, and working for transformational change. Our partners in the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation enterprise are constructing this pathway for Kalamazoo County through training, dialogue, organizing, changing systems and building relationships.
We are being called. Parents, youths and elders; pastors, nurses and philanthropists; attorneys, librarians and engineers; plumbers, teachers and farmers. People from all walks of life – especially those of us with power and privilege – are being called. We can answer the call by seeking out partners and resources to help us. We can answer the call by advocating for change. We can answer the call by listening and learning. We can answer the call by recommitting every day to speaking out and taking action against injustice.
Carrie has been president/CEO of the Community Foundation since 2012. She joined the organization in 1999 as an intern with its Community Investment team.
The pain of intolerance
Sharon Brown | August 14, 2017
I was eight years old when there was an uproar and calls for the firing of my choir director because he came out as gay. This was the early 1980s, and many were scandalized by such an admission, reacting out of their unfounded fears that his sexual orientation impacted his ability to work safely with children. Others defended this man we had known for years, who was universally beloved, who was immensely musically talented. When the dust settled, justice won the day and he continued to serve admirably for decades.
This was the first time I remember seeing the pain caused by intolerance, the first time my parents talked to me about how some people hate the ways other people love, the first time I remember being righteously angry at injustice. And it very well may be the moment my future in nonprofit work began to take shape.
Yet years later we have an administration seemingly committed to undercutting the gains we’ve made. Recently thousands of brave military members were told they are not welcome to serve their country, based simply on their gender expression. The same day the Department of Justice moved to strip Title VII protections from LGBTQ citizens, again legalizing blatant discrimination based on sexual orientation. Decisions like these undermine any sense of security and inclusion in public life for our LGBTQ friends – reminding us all that hard-won gains are never guaranteed.
Because so many of these rights are protected – or not – by our public policies, I am excited to be coordinating a Public Policy Committee here at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation designed to identify effective ways to advocate in the public sphere. The Community Foundation has written our elected officials in support of the rights of our LGBTQ neighbors and urged others to do the same.
I am incredibly grateful to dedicate my daily work to an organization committed to advancing equity. When justice seems fleeting, I lean on a quote from author, L.R. Knost:
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”
The Community Foundation’s tagline is “Love where you live.” This can, and does, mean enjoy where you live – treasure the parks, appreciate the restaurants, celebrate the arts. But I also like to think it means loving as Knost describes – intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. Volunteer. Write or call your elected officials. Make your voice heard. Together we can mend the broken places, securing liberty and justice for all.
Sharon came to the Community Foundation in the spring of 2016 and is a member of the Leadership and Governance team. In addition to her work on pubic policy, she assists our president/CEO.
100 Men Who Cook
Joe Kiser for Kzoo Connect | August 1, 2017
Imagine over 600 guests gathered together at the WMU Bernhard Center's ballroom for a unique culinary fundraiser, '100 Men Who Cook' hosted by Old National Bank (ONB).
On Saturday August 12th from 6-10 p.m. there will be 100 chef stations positioned around the perimeter of the ballroom, all manned by local men who are centers of influence in our community. These leaders include: Tim Terrentine Sr., Western Michigan's VP of Development and Alumni Relations, Jon Hoadley, Michigan State Representative, Bob Ezelle, retired Director of Boys & Girls Clubs, Jeff Cole, President of Cole Gavlas, PC, Bob Borsos of Kreis Enderle, and Von Washington, Executive Director of Community Relations for The Kalamazoo Promise, along with dozens more. All will be serving their favorite dish and earning tips (donations) from guests. Cocktails will be served, along with a silent auction, all to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kalamazoo. Doesn't this sound like a great time?
The Bernhard Center at WMU is providing tremendous support for this event - supplying EVERYTHING needed for the chefs to serve their dishes. All proceeds from '100 Men Who Cook' evening will benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo who has provided service in the community for 60 years. Their mission is to assure and enhance the quality of life for Kalamazoo youth through education, mentoring, arts programs, and recreational activities.
'100 Men Who Cook' is a signature fundraising event for Old National Bank and this year they are hosting it for the first time in Michigan. The event relies heavily on the volunteer efforts of ONB associates - and the collaborative spirit of local communities - for its great success. At ONB, each associate is given 24 paid hours, per year to volunteer for any nonprofit they'd like to participate with. Local banking center managers also serve on at least one nonprofit board; locally they include the boards of Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the American Red Cross.
ONB has now hosted 44 of these events throughout their footprint, raising nearly $4 million for more than 30 charities, even winning a 2016 Community Commitment Award from the American Bankers Association. ONB typically hosts 100 Men Who Cook in every community they do business in and look forward to presenting it in Kalamazoo every two years, possibly with a different nonprofit beneficiary being chosen.
In just four short years of being in Michigan the bank has been generous with their associates' time and talent. Since 2013, ONB has financially supported over 75 nonprofit organizations, reinvested over $500,000 and shared 5,000 volunteer hours between grant funding, sponsorships, volunteerism and in-kind donations. The Old National Bank Foundation has also granted over $10 million in the past 10 years to nonprofits including many here in Kalamazoo.
Old National Bank is deeply committed to Southwest Michigan. Throughout their 180- year history the banks focus has been on strengthening the communities they serve through corporate sponsorships and foundation grant awards. This commitment to charitable giving serves as the cornerstone of their identity and helps define their mission as a community bank.
So consider having a great time with your friends and family at this inaugural event, all while supporting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kalamazoo. To attend, sponsor, volunteer, or become a chef for the event, visit the website: www.100menkalamazoo.org, or contact Joe Kiser directly at 269-567-7317 and/or email. Tickets are $100/Individual or $750 for a table of 8.
Check out all the celebrity chef's to date at: www.100menkalamazoo.org/chefs and consider making a donation.
This blog originally appeared on Kzoo Connect on July 25, 2017.
Here's to the fourth estate
Tom Vance | June 29, 2017
Okay, so this does date me a little.
My trusty 1964 edition of "The American College Dictionary" defines the fourth estate as "the public press, the newspapers, or the body of journalists."
Our younger donors and nonprofit partners, of course, are more familiar with the term "the media." But reference to the fourth estate still works as a powerful description of the serious business of news.
There is also the implied burden on journalists in their role of providing checks and balances at all levels of government and community affairs. The 45th anniversary of the Watergate break in is a reminder that reporters were among the heroes of that national nightmare.
So, whatever you call them, here at the Community Foundation we like reporters and their organizations. Yes, there are times when they ask questions we'd rather they not ask; and questions we're not at liberty to answer – but we always respect them as fellow communicators. And without them, of course, we couldn't tell our story throughout Kalamazoo County.
When you talk about local media these days, everyone talks about a decline in reporting (with apologies to my friends at the Kalamazoo Gazette, whose ranks have thinned, but who march on with daily reporting). The current state of local news coverage has been the topic of meetings at InterCom, the Kalamazoo Area Association of Communication Professionals. Meanwhile, the current issue of the Columbia Journalism Review features a cover story about the challenges and future of hometown journalism.
But things are never as bad as they seem. More than 20 news organizations cover Kalamazoo County, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio, electronic publications and the websites and social media that help many of them boost their reach. Some have increased news staff, and most are using their websites and social media to maximize their reach.
We also see hope in the next generation of journalists. We've included high school and college reporters during the visits of our most recent Community Meeting speakers (Ta-Nehisi Coates and Dr. Mae Jemison) and witnessed great reporting on important issues of the day.
So, here at the Community Foundation we celebrate their role and their contributions to an informed community. Oh, the phone is ringing, gotta go. The fourth estate is calling and they're on deadline.
Tom is one of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's marketing communications officers. His appreciation for the media began when he was a student journalist working on The Western Herald at WMU.
Find your cause
Raven Britt | June 19, 2017
According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of philanthropy is the practice of giving money and time to help make life better for other people.
I have volunteered with various organizations and nonprofits throughout the years and have benefited greatly. Here are just a couple reasons why:
- It always feels great to give back! What's the saying? It's better to give than to receive? Well, it's true. Helping out at a food pantry, or even reading books to children, those are just a couple of ways to give back.
- Volunteering is a great way to network! You never know who you might meet or connect with.
- Finally, when you help others, you help yourself. It's important that we remember to take care of one another, especially here in Kalamazoo County –– #lovewhereyoulive!
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation believes in volunteering too. Since April 2016 the Community Foundation has partnered with Volunteer Kalamazoo, a program of Gryphon Place, on an annual Find Your Cause event. Each year, KZCF and Volunteer Kalamazoo reach out to 15 to 20 Kalamazoo County nonprofits that are looking for volunteers. Each organization is set up with their own table so guests have the opportunity to meet and talk one on one with representatives from each organization. This year we're excited to have The Organic Gypsy food truck provide refreshments, which are free!
This year's Find Your Cause is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, here at the Community Foundation. You can RSVP on Facebook or by calling me at 269.381.4416. We hope you'll stop by, have some fun and learn about volunteer needs throughout Kalamazoo County and how you can help.
Raven is a member of the Community Foundation's Donor Relations team. Her job is to share with people the many ways they can be part of the Community Foundation's work.
Learning, growth, and the pursuit of full potential
Jade Warwick | May 15, 2017
I moved to Kalamazoo two years ago for a job, school, and a relationship. I never expected to find myself in a community that is dedicated to learning, growth, and the pursuit of full potential. A perfect example of this is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's 2017 Community Meeting with keynote speaker Dr. Mae Jemison, the first woman of color in space.
While waiting for Dr. Jemison to arrive at the short press conference before the meeting, I thought I would be star-struck by her fame and status. The moment she walked into the room, what I was struck by was her incredible sense of humor, her sharp wit, and her dedication to the betterment of tomorrow.
The cornerstone of her 100 Year Starship initiative is to achieve interstellar travel, but more importantly, to improve the quality of life here on Earth. She drew an interesting simile from there: The Earth is like a starship with finite resources. If we can simulate solutions to potential problems in space, we can apply those solutions to problems that we already have here.
A hot topic at the press conference was how to get children interested in science. Her answer: they already are interested. It's the responsibility of adults to foster that interest and promote growth. Her message was that children are shaped by what is put in front of them. She lives by the three E's: experience, expectation, exposure.
She delivered a similar message in her talk at the Community Meeting as well, making it very clear that diversity in STEM fields is necessary because a variety of perspectives is vital. In fields and projects with so many variables, her message was one of inclusion.
Dr. Jemison also spoke about making art and science work together. She explained that they are manifestations of the same thing: an attempt at understanding the universe. Art is intuitive and constructive; science is analytical and deconstructive. Why choose one or the other?
We also had the fortune of hearing a conversation between Dr. Jemison and Earlene McMichael, WMUK's local host of NPR's Morning Edition. The recurring topic was about success and how to achieve it. Jemison's most important message was that holding students to different standards devalues education and can discourage them from potential success.
In her thoughtful and impassioned answers to questions at the press conference, the Community Meeting, and the conversation with Earlene McMichael, I was constantly impressed by her clarity of social issues and her ability to answer the difficult questions.
I came away from the whole event knowing that while Dr. Jemison has live an incredible and interesting life so far, she has so much more planned for the future.
Jade is a student studying journalism at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Helping women overcome barriers
Nancy Timmons | April 27, 2017
You know her – we all do. She is the woman held back by economic barriers, family challenges or limited knowledge of options and possibilities. She is a woman whose dreams and resolve outpaced the reality of her life situation. She is a woman who vowed to build a brighter future for herself.
The Women's Education Coalition was created for her.
A cooperative venture, the Coalition consists of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; the YWCA of Kalamazoo and the former Kalamazoo Network. Its purpose is to provide renewable grant assistance to women who are currently underemployed or unemployed and are in need of education to become financially self-sufficient.
The mission of the Coalition grant is to "change our communities through education, one family at time." This mission statement is based on data that continues to show that when we help educate women, we contribute to the success of families.
Here are some comments from recent grant recipients:
- "My sole purpose for enrolling in college this late in life was so I could get the proper education and accreditations I needed so I could go out and help others like myself, the 'forgotten ones.'"
- Thank you SO much! Never have I known a group of people so determined to make sure a person like myself makes it to her dreams. Please know that your blessings and support are sincerely appreciated."
- "You may not know how much your support means to me as I pursue my educational goals. Not only does the money help me tremendously, but also I am extremely proud to be a chosen recipient of the WEC grant. Thank you very much."
- "I wish I could put into words how much this Women's Education Coalition grant means to me. I hope to return this blessing by helping others. It feels really good to have a community that is willing to provide support for me to achieve my goals and dreams."
- "Without the Women's Education Coalition and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation I could never have reached graduation. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Since 1995, the Women's Education Coalition has granted over $1 million to more than 250 non-traditional students. The grant is available to non-traditional students who reside in Kalamazoo, Barry, Calhoun, Allegan, St. Joseph or Van Buren County. The application due date is May 15.
Click here for more details
Nancy is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's scholarship manager.
Right relationship right now
Susan Reed | March 17, 2017
Many are seeking to help and walk alongside immigrants and refugees right now, but lots of folks don’t exactly know what to do. There are lots of great ideas for work that communities can do to be in solidarity with immigrants! The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and our Welcoming Michigan initiative have published lists, and lists are great. There are models for schools, churches, Welcoming Cities and Counties (like our own!), and more.
But every big idea isn’t the right fit for every community or institution and every action has to be authentic to the community that’s planning to take it. Actions become meaningful only in the context of relationship.
For communities that have immigrant, refugee, and undocumented members, externally-driven models are no substitute for internal attention to one another’s needs. Here’s an example: recently I was asked by a church that I know well has a high percentage of immigrant members, including many undocumented members. They wanted our legal and practical advice about whether or not to call themselves a “sanctuary church.” Their understanding was that being a sanctuary church meant they that would be available to shelter people facing deportation if an attorney or advocacy group made a referral of a family that wanted that kind of protection at some point in the future. They were worried about the legalities and worried that the conversation about whether to take on the title of sanctuary might be divisive.
First of all, being silent as a faith community when so many of your own members are in crisis is already incredibly divisive; it’s just that the division created by silence is invisible to those who are not affected. Having acknowledged that, maybe it’s the case that this particular community isn’t ready to do this kind of sanctuary as a community if they have these concerns. And, maybe physical sanctuary in the future at the church isn’t what the immigrant members of the faith community want or need right now. There are almost certainly people in this particular community who have court hearings and immigration check-ins in Detroit who are struggling to get there.
Maybe the church could organize a ride-sharing program –– maybe folks with reluctance about the politics but willingness to help a neighbor in need would even be transformed (don’t all of the best conversations happen on road trips?). Maybe this church needs to commit itself to more bilingual services and activities to be more integrated. Maybe they need to do those things before they can make a real commitment to sanctuary and they had better get started! Or maybe at the end of their internal conversation and process, they want to call themselves a sanctuary AND carry out a ministry of accompaniment to those struggling with the immigration process. The point is, it’s about who they are now and who they might become together, not what list they’re going to be on or what they’re going to call themselves.
There are many other ideas that might be relevant and meaningful for any given community, but the answers don’t begin online or in a training when you’re talking about what most affects your own (and I say this as the leader of an organization that proudly provides useful content and training about immigrant rights and integration). Don’t default to a toolkit and ignore the very people who are in the best position to articulate what’s most helpful. It’s awkward to ask what folks need when maybe you feel like you shouldn’t have to. Let it be awkward. If you don’t have anyone to ask, then forming genuine personal and institutional relationships is clearly the first step, no matter how slow it feels. And, be intentional about how those relationships will be mutually beneficial or you end up objectifying and making more work for those most affected. Learn from each other and then look for the resources that best help you implement the most relevant plan for your community.
Relationship is so much more difficult than downloading the solidarity manual, but it’s also so much more meaningful. We’re always here at MIRC and Welcoming Michigan to support affected community leaders struggling with these dynamics and support institutions and communities who are ready to take risks and move forward. We look forward to getting to know you or deepening our relationship.
Susan is Managing Attorney at Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
Celebrating elderhood
Judy Sivak | March 28, 2017
It's well known that our community, state, nation and world is aging. Baby Boomers are turning 65 at the rate of 8,000 each day, for the next 20 years. Here in Kalamazoo County, nearly 20 percent of the population is already over age 60 and we have identified 67 people who are 100 years old or older! It's time to bring more attention to aging issues and whether or not we are ready to meet the realities of elderhood in our community.
The Celebrate Elderhood initiative is challenging ageist attitudes, myths and stereotypes, and showcasing how this stage of the lifecycle enriches individuals, families and the community. The Area Agency on Aging IIIA and the Kalamazoo County Older Adults Services Advisory Council along with many volunteers and community partners, are coordinating efforts to set a community standard where elders and the people and organizations that make up the network of service providers are valued, respected and supported. We want to change the perceptions, discourse and actions that relate to aging so that Kalamazoo County is known as a great place to grow up in and grow old in.
But first, we must educate ourselves about those aging issues, and there are many. Let's get rid of the quest to be youthful and all that anti-aging advertising and products and accept that our bodies are aging. Anyway, how can you be "anti-aging?" Younger generations need to learn to respect elders, as many other societies do, as they will find great wisdom and kindness. We must do all we can to assure elders they can stay in their home of choice for as long as they want with quality care and services. Unfortunately, this is not possible for hundreds of frail elders who are on waiting lists.
The Celebrate Elderhood initiative will be honoring centenarians, senior Olympians, World War II veterans, businesses who have elder-friendly policies, service providers, faith communities and individuals who are exhibiting excellence and innovative services at a community event on May 18. We will also be announcing winners of scholarships that will help individuals become certified dementia practitioners and will have the fifth grade winners of a writing contest read their essays along with a video of the wisdom of centenarians. A buzz is starting in Kalamazoo County and I hope that you will become part of what's going on as we Celebrate Elderhood together.
Learn more about the Celebrate Elderhood initiative
Judy is director of Kalamazoo County Older Adult Services/Area Agency on Aging IIIA.
Trek to a better tomorrow
Rick Chambers | March 3, 2017
When Nichelle Nichols told a man she’d just met that she had quit her job, he scolded her.
“You can’t!” he insisted in a deep, resonant tone. “You’re part of history. For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen.”
A stunned Nichols paid heed. When she returned to work, she shared the encounter with her boss, who wept over the man's words.
Nichols is best known as Lieutenant Uhura, communications officer aboard the starship Enterprise in the 1960s television series Star Trek. The boss who cried? Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. And the man who told Nichols to stay the course? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In an era of social upheaval and racial strife, little did Nichols know that portraying a senior Starfleet officer — one who happened to be black and female — would inspire countless thousands of individuals of all races and genders to strive for greatness. Among them were a young, aspiring writer in Kalamazoo and a bright, wishful girl in Chicago.
Star Trek leaped beyond space-monster clichés to tackle social issues — war, prejudice, greed, the environment, cultism, even sex. (This was the 1960s, after all.) After its initial three-year run, Star Trek went on to great popularity in syndication, spawning movies, spinoffs, books, collectibles and even independent, fan-produced series.
Star Trek promised a future of peace, compassion and equity. People of every race and culture worked together for the good of all. Gender, ethnicity, even species of origin presented no barriers. That future has resonated and inspired people for more than 50 years.
As a youth growing up in Kalamazoo, I was one of those inspired. Star Trek spurred my love of writing. I went on to pursue a career in journalism and communications, became an author and, to my amazement, a screenwriter for the acclaimed web series Star Trek New Voyages. My two episodes released to date, “Mind-Sifter” (from the famed short story by Shirley Maiewski) and “The Holiest Thing,” have entertained hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide.
And that young girl from Chicago? Stirred by Star Trek and Lieutenant Uhura, Mae Jemison became a scientist and an astronaut, recruited by Nichols herself for NASA. In 1992, Dr. Jemison became the first African American woman to fly in space, serving as mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour flight STS-47. A year later, she realized another dream: a speaking role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, becoming the first real-life astronaut to appear on the show.
Today, Dr. Jemison encourages women and minorities to pursue science careers, or wherever their dreams take them — a message she will bring to Kalamazoo at the Community Foundation's 2017 Community Meeting on March 23. (The event is free and open to the public.) Like Nichols, she has become part of history, showing the world what the future can be. I admire her commitment. Like her, I aspire to advance the future that inspired us both: a future of compassion and equity, where the dreams of little girls like Mae and little boys like Rick can boldly go — anywhere.
Rick is a public relations consultant for Rick Chambers & Associates and author of the novel Radiance.
Truth, racial healing and transformation
Lanna Lewis | February 8, 2017
In recent months, and arguably years, the illusion that we live in a post-racial society has been all but shattered in the public discourse. Events ranging from shootings of unarmed Black men on camera by police officers to the violent rhetoric of the recent presidential election that inspired at least 700 hate crimes within the first week – as well as the denial of entry to legal U.S. residents based on nationality and many more – have gotten a great deal of media attention and inspired many people and communities to action.
While many across the U.S. and the world are in shock and uncertain as to how we arrived at this point, others who have been working tirelessly for years or even decades are both recovering from the loss of ground in the movement toward civil rights and social justice and gearing up for new and increased efforts. Yet there are others in our country who still do not see, still do not understand, or even yet believe in the motivation behind it all – the idea that some people deserve the treatment they get because of inherent differences or that some cultures are ‘better’ than others. This is far from being unique to the U.S. – similar sentiments towards nationalism, Islamophobia, anti-LBGTQ, and other exclusionary views are fueling policy changes and a loss of human rights around the world.
This is what W.K. Kellogg Foundation is calling a belief in the hierarchy of human value. This believe in a hierarchy, particularly when it comes to race, has persisted and influences not only policy and institutions, but also culture and individual values. The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) enterprise is a new initiative in which WKKF has called together more than130 leading national organizations to begin to craft solutions to this embedded problem that will be implemented community-by-community, starting with 10 areas across the country. These solutions focus on racial healing on the personal and community level, changing the way that narratives about people and communities that are presented in the media, ways to address segregation and colonization, as well as economic and legal transformation.
Racial equity has been a central focus of WKKF for years, as well as of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. As a result KZCF, along with partners from across our community and the state as a whole, were invited to attend a summit in December of 2016 designed to be an introduction to the TRHT. Over 500 people from the chosen regions across the country attended, all equipped with experience, expertise and energy for the work of addressing the deep divides in our communities and in our country. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Early on in the summit, participants recognized the urgency of the moment, as we were staring down the presidential inauguration, and called for a National Day of Racial Healing on Jan. 17.
That day became a launching point to both begin discussions on TRHT and build on work that is already happening in our communities, in order to engage in truth telling, build bridges, and foster genuine conversations nationally. The event in Kalamazoo was titled Stories That Unite Us, and it quickly sold out with 120 attending. Participants learned about the TRHT enterprise, saw clips from the film America Divided, participated in reflection and discussion, and were connected to ongoing work happening in our community.
Kalamazoo partners who answered the call to host this event included ISAAC, SHARE, Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, Black Arts & Cultural Center, ERACCE, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center/Welcoming Michigan and Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
Many times, as people become aware of the injustices in our society, they don’t know how or where to begin to address it. We say, it starts at home, it starts with us, it starts with building relationships and seeking the truth. The TRHT enterprise hopes to provide a collective commitment and long-term determination to embrace a new narrative for the nation, a belief in common humanity, and to bring about transformational and sustainable change locally and nationally.
Lanna is a member of the Community Foundation's Community Investment team.
Students of history
Donna Odom | January 18, 2017
If you’re a student of history or have had conversations with activists from the 1960s – like Lewis Walker, Lisa Brock, or the late Charles Warfield – you may, like me, be struggling to understand how we could still be so divided racially.
We seemed to have taken so many steps forward, but here we are still locked in a cycle of fear and lack of understanding. Now more than ever we need to face our issues of race and invest ourselves in personal transformation. This comes through facing and acknowledging our history, making connections across racial and ethnic divides, and healing and reconciliation.
Although we did not legally change our name to the Society for History and Racial Equity until 2015, SHARE was really born when we established the Racial Healing Initiative in 2010 as a result of our participation in the Race Exhibit Initiative. Inspired by Tom DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade, Sharon Morgan, co-author with Tom of Gather at the Table, and the work of Coming to the Table, we based our initiative on the philosophy of Transforming Historical Harms, developed and articulated by Amy Potter Czajkowski and David Anderson Hooker of the Center for Justice and Peace-building at Eastern Mennonite University.
From the beginning our goals have been to increase awareness of racial disparities, facilitate interaction between people of different races and ethnicities, increase awareness of the historical harms of racism and discrimination, and inspire individual and community transformation.
As students of history we also know that events move in cycles and as we move into this challenging period, we must pay heed to the message of the Sankofa – the symbol of which is a mythical bird with its feet planted forward and its head turned backwards – the past serves as a guide for planning the future. The dark periods of history are always followed by periods of enlightenment. It’s for us to remain steadfast in our message of hope, healing, and reconciliation, so this year we will continue to work with our community partners to provide the core programs of the Racial Healing Initiative:
- Oral histories where our goal is to uncover and enliven the previously undervalued histories of people of color in ways that restore or increase levels of individual and group power, enabling participants to define their own lives and control their own narratives.
- Healing Retreats and Workshops where people can share their stories, find meaning and significance in what they have lived through, and acknowledge and honor the stories and experiences of others.
- Community Discussions and Book Club sessions that provide opportunities for individuals and groups to recognize the shared humanity of other people and other groups and appreciate the different journeys of others.
- Provide Resources for Action by providing small-group trainings on topics such as becoming and working with white allies and implicit bias; programs like the Youth Summit that increase awareness and develop leadership skills; the annual Summit on Racism that provides an opportunity for community members to gather and discuss issues of race and to network and form collaborations.
These goals of healing, reconciliation, and transformation can best be accomplished by a collaborative effort of individuals and organizations in the community and we look forward to maintaining and expanding existing partnerships and developing new ones.
Donna is SHARE's executive director.
2016 Edition: Top 10 reasons why we love where we live
Gretchen Johnson for Kzoo Connect | December 22, 2016
We can't reflect on 2016 without recalling the tragedies that struck our community in February and June. But we can't recall those tragedies without also remembering the singular expression of love and compassion that residents poured forth in the aftermath. This, after all, is a community that turned swampland into the celery producing capital of the world! It's that make-lemonade, can't-hold-us-back, Kalamazoo Strong attitude we celebrate today as we look at 10 More Reasons Why We Love Where We Live!
10. Kalamazoo is all about family
Our moms and dads series highlighted young professionals who are juggling the responsibilities of caring for youngsters while carving out careers. We love these stories. Their experiences will be the childhood memories of a future generation. We also met a young woman working on the other end of the family spectrum, with our aging parents and grandparents. It's comforting to know that there are caring and compassionate people out there to help.
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9. Young professionals are shaping tomorrow
We met so many young professionals with first-time jobs in the region that it's impossible to name them all. Some are fresh out of college and thrilled to discover that our robust economy has great jobs right here. Others came for opportunities that brought them home. Some were drawn here for the first time. We celebrate their talent, ideas and enthusiasm.
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8. It's a great place to run a business
This year, we discovered stories of several entrepreneurs running big companies and small, some new and some established. Each story of business success is as unique as Kalamazoo itself: From a bakery that caters to people with food sensitivities to a coffee rescue van, and from an improvisational group that teaches people to think on their feet, to a company that's connecting the state for success.
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7. Food sustains us in more ways than one
The business of food has been a way of life for our region since the pioneers settled here. From the swampy celery once sold on street corners to the herbs and spices used in pharmaceuticals and food additives, today those traditions continue. Walther Farms sells the local potatoes it grows for potato chips. Green Door Distilling uses local produce to make its signature spirits. And for the startup Season for a Reason, its unique seasonings sells throughout the region to honor the founders' father.
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6. Ours is a community that turned beer into an art form, then made it a thriving industry
Perhaps there is nothing more characteristic of Kalamazoo than our craft beer industry. Artisan in nature, entrepreneurial brewers express their personalities through the innovative use of locally grown ingredients with each signature product different from the next. Launched right here in Kalamazoo just a few decades ago, craft beer is now a $1.85 billion industry for Michigan and boasts more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and 200 breweries. This year we met two that call our region home.
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5. We prepare tomorrow's leaders
It’s been said, "We're in this together beats you're on your own every time." In Kalamazoo, students know their community takes those words to heart. From cradle to career, you'll find lots of people and organizations helping shape our next gen leaders. This year we were introduced to a new member of The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo. We heard from Palanca Leadership Executive Director Lisa Palanca about the power of GRIT, and we learned about a program that’s introducing middle school students to career possibilities.
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4. It's a place where dreams come true
We spoke with two professionals this year who say they're living the life they once only dreamed of. Chase Mielke is an award-winning educator, a published writer, and a spit-up cleaning father who blends family and career. Lori Moore is the host of The Lori Moore Showon the CW7. Both share their passion for the region and enthusiasm for their work with everyone they encounter.
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3. Our neighborhoods are awesome
Like most metro areas, Kalamazoo region is made up of small neighborhoods, townships, and villages - the sum total of which is much greater than its parts. Each eclectic place offers its own amenities and personality. This year we discovered Festive West Bed and Breakfest, the latest edition to a string of unique B&B Inn's in Kalamazoo’s downtown Stuart Neighborhood.
We were introduced to all that the Oakland Drive-Winchell neighborhood offers, and we heard about a hip, contemporary restaurant with Vietnamese cuisine that will soon grace Edison Neighborhood's Washington Square.
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2. You'll find lots of fun and interesting things to do here
Our region is rich with high culture, from theatre to music to art hops and art classes. But you'll also find trails to bike or hike and lakes and rivers for water fun. And if you're looking for something more out of the ordinary, you'll find that too! Check out these more unusual activities.
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1. Growing up here often seeds a desire to give back
We met two young professionals this year who were born and raised in Kalamazoo and stayed to pay forward the generosity they received as kids. Kevin Hess is a Kalamazoo Promise scholarship recipient who is now in real estate. Eric Wimbley says his experience as a Pretty Lake camper helped prepare him for life. Now the camp's Executive Director, he's helping the 100-year-old camp for underprivileged youth map out a course for our next generation.
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Making a community where everyone loves to live
Carrie Pickett-Erway | November 16, 2016
This week we are celebrating Community Foundation Week: a chance for us to share and reflect on the work we and more than 780 community foundations across the country do and the impact we make.
We all bring people together to support efforts that make communities places where everyone loves to live.
Yet as I write this, I'm mindful of incidents of harassment and intimidation that have taken place here in recent days. Incidents like these don't make our community one where EVERYONE loves to live. This isn't acceptable. Equity is one of the Community Foundation's priorities and we are committed to doing everything we can to support people who have been targets of harassment and intimidation or fear they may be in the future.
As we enter the giving season, millions of people from every background will look to support the communities they love and call home. They'll also look to ensure their gifts will make the most impact possible. That's why so many will choose to give to a community foundation.
A gift to one of our Love Where You Live Funds is an investment in the well being and future of Kalamazoo County. Your gift will go to work immediately addressing the community's most pressing needs – including helping all of our residents feel safe – and also will provide sustained support for years to come. And there are many ways to give. You can:
Our vision is a community where every person can reach full potential. Together, with you and our many nonprofit partners, we can make this vision a reality. Thank you for your support. Love where you live.
Carrie Pickett-Erway is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's president/CEO.
What if I have to eat lunch by myself?
Adrienne Neubert | November 2, 2016
My stomach felt tight, and even though I had showered just 30 minutes ago I felt hot and uncomfortable. I looked at myself in the mirror, when did this outfit become so ridiculous looking? Did I need to be there at 8 a.m. or 9? Oh my gosh, what if I am late for my FIRST DAY? I’ll never live it down. What if everyone hates me and I have to eat lunch by myself?
“You are a grown woman Adrienne, and you will do great,” I said confidently to my reflection.
I immediately frowned, not believing my mirrored counterpart. It was my first day starting my new job and the anxiety I felt reminded me of one thing in particular: that very first day of college. Whether you went to college five states or five minutes away from home, I think most students felt this way. The uncertainty of what is to come, the decisions and of course the possibilities are overwhelming.
To assist with some of those decisions the Kalamazoo Community Foundation is hosting a Financial Aid Night on November 14 at Kalamazoo RESA’s Wile Auditorium at 1819 E. Milham Avenue.
The Community Foundation scholarship team and an area college financial aid counselor will have information for high school graduating seniors. Why is this information important? The presentation will touch on the different ways to help pay for school. It will also detail how to fill out the FAFSA, which can play an integral part in applying for scholarships, and qualifying for available aid from the government and many colleges. We'll also outline the different types of scholarships that are available and highlight some of the 53 different scholarship funds. Awards can range from $250 to $7,500 and students can apply online starting at the end of December.
There is one application open right now: The Clarence L. Remynse Scholarship. The application due date is December 1. You must be a graduating senior who is a permanent resident of Kalamazoo County or be graduating from a Kalamazoo County high school, and be planning on pursuing a four-year degree from an accredited college in business, science (including mathematics and engineering), law, education, psychology or medicine. This award is pretty special too, as the largest award is $7,500 and it is renewable for up to three years after your freshman year. The Remynse Scholarship does take financial need into consideration, so filing that FAFSA is an important part of the process.
The Financial Aid Night is completely free and open to the public, so come join us. I think we can help with some of that uncertainty and maybe even provide some opportunities to make college possible. I can’t say that first day of school will be any less nerve-wracking, but I know it will be the first day of unlimited potential for many.
That first day of my new job (when I started at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation) I saw all the names of student scholarship recipients, read their stories and realized how many of them would do great things. Just another reason to love where I live.
Adrienne is the Community Foundation's scholarship coordinator. She joined our team in September and only eats lunch alone when she wants to.
Happy Birthday, YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo!
Steve Springsdorf | October 18, 2016
I recently had the opportunity to speak to a large group of YMCA friends and supporters who were gathered to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo. It was a humbling and inspiring experience to stand and represent an organization that has, for 150 years, been such a major community asset.
For 150 years, the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo has served the area through a rich history of programs, with dedicated leadership, impacting tens of thousands of individuals. As the second oldest nonprofit organization in the region, this Y’s 150th anniversary is an opportunity to demonstrate its evolving, long-standing presence, broad impact and progressive compassion. The Y – the people – the community that has supported it and nurtured it, has much to celebrate and for which to be proud.
Celebrating and recognizing the sesquicentennial of anything is a pretty big deal. And attempting to capture an organization’s accomplishments within that timeframe is daunting. How do we credit and lift every person, every event, and every effort that has led the Y to this point in its history? The Y has come such a long way from that first facility led by volunteers that housed men in need. Today, it stands strong with over 13,000 members benefitting from a myriad of classes, programs and activities; a staff of over 220 part-time and 40 full-time employees; and hundreds of donors who make scholarships available to those who are underserved.
Where the societal gaps seem to grow wider and wider, the Y provides opportunities to narrow and fill them with meaningful, and enriching experiences to help people reach their potential. The Y looks to the future to continue providing active learning programs for our community’s very youngest, a nurturing place for youth and teens, and a supportive environment for families. We look toward the future with hearts that invite everyone to participate and engage. The Y, is, after all, FOR ALL.
Reflecting on the past – on its progresses and milestones – is the easy part. The YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo marks 2016 on its historic timeline not only to look back, summarize and assess, but to force the community’s attentions toward the future, and to ask the important question: How will we anticipate, support, address, and respond to the fast paced changes that the next 50 years will present and demand?
And the bigger question is: What are we doing as individuals, as groups, as a community, to develop programs and initiatives that promote a healthy lifestyle for all?
Yes, the Y is much, much more than a gym. It’s a community center built up through a membership that lifts our neighbors and each other. It is an instrument of the community’s commitment to healthy living. Thank you to all – past and present – who have lived and lifted the Y!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo! Here’s to the next 150 years!
Steve Springsdorf is YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo's president and CEO.
Learning about philanthropy, making a difference
Mary Lou Boughton | September 14, 2016
Imagine high school age youth as grantmakers. It’s a great idea, started by Council of Michigan Foundations in the late 1980s, now in all 86 counties.
In Kalamazoo the group is Youth United Way, a partnership program of the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region and Kalamazoo Community Foundation offering area youth the opportunity to learn community philanthropy and make a difference through their energy and their opinions.
Recently members of YUW learned how alumni felt the program impacted their lives:
- Skyler Kerr Comstock High School, 2015
"YUW taught me how to be a young leader in my community, a good example for other kids. YUW has strengthened my team working, communication, and leadership skills and helped shape me into the strong person I am today.”
- David Mann Kalamazoo Central High School, 2013
“Youth United Way helped me gain valuable leadership skills and was a great resume builder. I learned about nonprofits and gained valuable communication skills among peers by learning how to express my opinion as well as kindly expressing any disagreements I may have.”
- Ahmed ElMouelhi Portage Northern High School, 1996
“I was part of YUW 20 years ago and it’s one of the experiences still vivid in my mind, as other memories fade. YUW was one of the earliest activities that taught me how to have a greater impact, how to disagree but not disrespect, and how to responsibly make difficult decisions.”
- Anna Clements Kalamazoo Central High School, 2008
“I work in a nonprofit and I haven't been in another group since, that has reached decisions through consensus with the same strength that YUW did. The process showed me that it is possible to value progress and consensus at once, and that one does not have to be sacrificed for the other.”
- Joe Cialdella Hackett Catholic Prep, 2004
“YUW provided me with a way to better understand the community while taking on leadership roles that helped me develop a greater sense of my own ability to work with others to make positive change. More than a volunteer opportunity, it really helped me become more outward looking and community oriented.”
- Alicia Verhage Petersen Galesburg-Augusta High School, 1998
“Youth United Way shaped my life in ways I couldn't have anticipated as a teenager. At the time I knew it was fun and meaningful to participate actively in the community through acts of service and giving grants to local nonprofits. What I didn’t realize was how many life skills I was learning that would help me in my career in conflict resolution and curriculum development.”
How’s that for some testimonials? Youth United Way meets weekly and is open to interested high school age residents of Kalamazoo County. It’s a group that’s as fun as it is meaningful.
And we’re recruiting now! I’d love to share information about this life-changing program. Students who are interested can get in touch with me at marylou.boughton@gmail.com or 269.250.9822.
Mary Lou Boughton is Youth United Way's program director.
A different drummer
Tom Vance | August 22, 2016
I first read A Different Drummer as a senior at John Adams High School in South Bend, Ind., for the literature class Establishment Minus One taught by Gerald Kline. In college, at Western Michigan University, I often gave away copies of the paperback as presents and have re-read it a few times – and again recently.
It has stood the test of time as one of my all-time favorite books.
It came out in 1962 and was the first novel by William Melvin Kelley, begun while he was a student at Harvard. Since then, his books include A Drop of Patience, dem, Dancers on the Shore and Dunfords Travels Everywheres.
He’s 79 now, lives in Harlem and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College, just north of New York City. He also writes for film, including the recent short film Excavating Harlem, which asks the question “What will our future say about our past?”
According to Kelley’s Facebook page, inter-racial conflict has been the focus of his writing with an “emphasis on the examination of characters, black and white, and the myths with which they delude themselves.”
That’s a nice description of A Different Drummer. The 200-page story takes place in a fictitious Southern state:
In June 1957, for reasons yet to be determined, all the state’s Negro inhabitants departed. Today, it is unique in being the only state in the Union that cannot count even one member of the Negro race among its citizens.
Kelley’s characters, both black and white, represent generations going back to slavery and how they interact with one another throughout this struggle in civil rights. A unique device Kelley uses is placing stream of consciousness of his characters in italics, providing another dimension to the story.
The book begins with this quote from Henry David Thoreau:
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
It ends with you thinking about the individual roles we each play in the world.
Tom Vance is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's marketing communication officer. He is the author of two self-published books, including Elliot Richardson: The Virtue of Politics and Napoleon in America: Essays in Biography and Popular Culture.
Passion, determination, dedication and belief
Demarra Gardner | August 8, 2016
I’ll be transitioning from executive director of Educating for Freedom in Schools to a board position at the end of the month, as we bring new leadership and a fresh perspective to this growing nonprofit organization.
My journey in this work began as the founder of Kalamazoo Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program in 2008. There was great need for high-quality, culturally-relevant, out-of-school-time learning experiences for youth. Based on CDF’s national curriculum model, we could provide reading and cultural enrichment, youth leadership development, parent empowerment, civic engagement and social action.
The opportunity to serve youth in our community has truly been a calling. We didn’t have many resources at first, but the passion, determination, dedication and beliefs of hundreds of volunteers has made this work possible (recognized with a 2011 STAR Award). Early supporters were the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, Kalamazoo Department of Health & Human Services, Kalamazoo Public Schools and Communities In Schools Kalamazoo.
EFIS became its own nonprofit in 2011, with continued community support continued coming from individuals and organizations, including AT&T, the Santreece Foundation, Harold & Grace Upjohn Foundation and Havermill Foundation. Our impact on area youth garnered the attention of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2014, supporting a two-year pilot to provide after-school programming at Spring Valley Elementary.
How exciting to see the results of that five-week summer program:
- Literacy results showed double digit increases in sentence and passage comprehension;
- Social and emotional skills such as self-awareness, goal-directed behavior, relationship skills, and decision making improved almost 20 percent.;
- 70 percent growth in each measurement category; and
- About 600 Kalamazoo youth have benefited from this program.
We’ve been blessed time and time again. I’m moved by the impact Educating for Freedom in Schools has had to provide opportunities for every child of every background to learn, engage and grow. It happened because of the tremendous support from the community and the dedication of staff, volunteers, parents and youth participants.
Our new executive director, Henry McCain, brings years of experience from the education and youth development field. You can meet him during EFIS’s two-part education series and reception featuring Dr. Marc Lamont Hill on August 12.
Demarra Gardner operates Change Agent Consultating, is a certified professional executive coach and recently joined the board of YWCA Kalamazoo.
Pokémon Go: Don't forget to look up
Alex Willis | July 19, 2016
Working in the technology industry at Omega Computer Services I am constantly keeping up on the latest tech trends and news. I had a little knowledge about the Pokémon Go app before it was released and was excited to play it. However, it is doing something I never would have expected.
Helping a city heal.
You may think I'm crazy, but if you take one trip to Bronson Park in the evening you will understand that the game is doing something special.
I took a trip to Bronson Park last week to catch some Pokémon with a few friends. It was a nice day so I decided, why not go out and get some fresh air. We pulled up to the park and as I stepped out of the car I was amazed at how many people were actually there. I have lived in Kalamazoo for three years now and have been to Bronson Park many times. The number of people I saw that day was easily triple what I have ever seen there before.
I was in awe for a few seconds, but then joined everyone in the hunt for Pokémon. It didn't hit me until about 20 minutes after arriving at the park and looking up to watch what was going on around me. I didn't even notice but my group of friends and I were talking to a mixed group of people that I just don't talk to on a regular basis. This was a group of all different races, ages and backgrounds, but that wasn't even what got to me the most.
What got to me was that these types of groups were everywhere. The conversations were so natural it was incredible. Everyone that was there could relate on one thing and that was Pokémon, but often it would lead to much more. It was the best ice breaker I had ever seen. I overheard so many conversations about the city, all the way from how long someone has been living here to what is the best place in town to grab a bite to eat.
It's cliché, but it truly is hard for me to put into words. In a time when our city has suffered so much pain in such a short time it is amazing to see what such a simple game can do.
I'll leave with this suggestion: download the app, get outside, catch some Pokémon and don't forget to look up.
Alex Willis is the marketing coordinator at Kalamazoo-based Omega Computer Services.
People are dying
Carrie Pickett-Erway | July 11, 2016
The headlines and social media over the past several days have been painful. I've experienced outrage, despair, fear and hope.
The killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were wrong. Period. And the killing of some people is met with accountability, while the killing of others is not. Why do we get such different responses depending on who the victim is, depending on the victim's race, legal status, class or neighborhood. If killing is wrong, why such difference?
Friends have posted messages to show up, speak up, demand justice and practice self-care. I agree. YES to all of this. There isn't much I can add to the commentary. And, like many, I need to take action within my sphere of influence.
I'm grateful to work with action-oriented advocates for community. Last Friday our leadership team spent the day in retreat, discussing our focus on equity. We challenged each other, confronted our limitations, and put together a handful of concrete action plans to move our work forward. We are looking at ourselves, internally, and asking how we can better prepare ourselves to live into our own stated values. We know it's a long journey and we cannot fail to deliver on our promises. This work is too important. It's really big. We do not have all the answers. We have not gotten it all right. We have to keep working at it.
There are many tools that can be instruments of pain OR protection. The police officer with the gun. The hospital with quality health care. Even the foundation with grants. Whether you see these tools as protection or pain is based largely on your identity – your race, class, gender identity, religion, legal status, sexual orientation.
I believe that people who hold positions of power and influence have a responsibility to examine our role in creating a just society, look deeply into the systems we lead, rebuild them – with our community – in ways that reverse the inequities.
This is a pivotal moment in our country. People are dying. Can we do what we must? I truly hope so. And with a humble and heavy heart, we move forward.
Love, integrity and justice
Carrie Pickett-Erway | June 21, 2016
We celebrated Friday.
We celebrated the life of one of our community leaders. Dr. Charles Warfield completed his life with us Sunday, June 5, and the community gathered to remember him and celebrate the many gifts he shared with all of us. This was a special gathering, with clergymen and women, academics, elected officials, social justice advocates, family, friends and many more. It was an evening of entertaining storytelling, prayer, sadness and joy, for Dr. Warfield invoked all those things.
I was struck by the range of diversity of the celebrants at Miller Auditorium that night. The diversity spanned the spectrum in age, race, faith, sexual orientation and economic background. Dr. Warfield's life stood for diversity and inclusion. Those who celebrated him were encouraged to have their own point of view and to hold that point of view without imposing moral judgement on others.
As I heard so many describe his life, you could see the evidence of his life in the auditorium. So many young professionals who are leaders in their field, because (in part) he helped to support them early on. So many veterans of social justice who have sustained the good fight, because (in part) Dr. Warfield demanded that we all "keep on." So many families held together, because they saw the role models of Dr. Martha and Dr. Charles Warfield. The evidence of a life well lived filled that auditorium.
I remember my own story with Dr. Warfield. He stopped by my office one day – of course unannounced – just to check in. I shared with him my excitement about a new leader involved in our education initiative. At one point in the discussion I said something that disappointed Doc. In fact, I disappointed myself. He laughed, then looked me in the eye and said, "Madam President, you're going to have to do better than that." With that statement he communicated respect and accountability. Two things I believe we need more of in this world.
I am reflecting on the loss of Dr. Warfield, along with so many other losses we have endured in Kalamazoo: Mrs. Anna Whitten, the shooting victims in February, the cyclist victims this month, and the many other members of the Kalamazoo community we've lost to violence. It's hard to hold the pain of these losses, especially when the time between them doesn't seem to allow for healing.
But I found hope on Friday. As we celebrated Dr. Warfield, the auditorium was filled with others who love this community, others who give their morning, noon and night, fighting to make this community a better place. Thanks in large measure to Dr. Warfield, there is a wave of leaders already taking action. We must continue the leadership that he stood for: love, integrity and justice.
More love. Less hate.
Carrie Pickett-Erway | June 14, 2016
A lot can change in one week.
A week ago this blog featured a post written by Jen Hsu, who is the director of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Student Services, a unit of Western Michigan University's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
The focus of Jen's post is the difficult, yet rewarding work of supporting the LGBTQ community on WMU's campus. Titled I'm Not Alone, she chronicles her personal journey and the difference she is making in the lives of the students she serves. It's an inspiring story we urge you to read.
And then Orlando.
This is a story of unspeakable violence; this is a story about a hate crime. This is an attack on the LGBTQ community, which is an attack on everyone. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, the people of Orlando and members of the LGBTQ community nationwide.
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation envisions a community where every person can live as their full, authentic self without fear. There is no place for violence, no room for hatred, bigotry or discrimination.
Last weekend's Pride event in downtown Kalamazoo was a positive example of a community coming together and we were proud to be part of that celebration. It was a beautiful and powerful demonstration of compassion and acceptance.
Yet we live in a state with a history of public policy that is intended to formally marginalize LGBTQ people and their families. We live in a state and nation with irresponsible gun laws. There are mental health issues that must also be addressed.
There is no room for hate speech in the name of politics, religion or anything else. Hate speech fuels violence. For this reason we also will not use this horrible massacre to demonize our Muslim community members. This organization stands with Muslims.
Change is possible. Change begins with acceptance, accepting each other and loving each other for the people we are. Let's celebrate the inspiration we find in stories like Jen Hsu's and Pride as we work for a more inclusive society. Let's support each other in our collective efforts to declare this place, Kalamazoo, a place for all of us. A place where there is more love, less hate.
Jen, you are not alone. The Kalamazoo Community Foundation is not only your friend, but also your ally. We will do what we can to make our community one in which you feel affirmed, safe and loved. We stand not behind you, but with you and our entire LGBTQ community.
I'm not alone
Jen Hsu | June 6, 2016
A little over four years ago, I found myself on a new adventure as I joined the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Western Michigan University. In the first moment I walked into my new office, I knew it was a special place. Within a minutes, students started dropping by the office just to say hi and welcome me to campus. I got a chance to hear them share their passion for LGBTQIA+ advocacy and how WMU was a place where they could truly be themselves. I knew that enthusiasm and passion well, because that was once me. To this day, I credit going to college and having the opportunity to be my full authentic self for the first time with saving my life.
Later that first week, my new colleagues and friends at the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center generously hosted a welcome and community reception for me. Here, I had the opportunity to meet a number of community members, many of whom today I consider close friends and respected colleagues.
The work of LGBTQIA+ support, education, and advocacy is seldom easy and rarely quick. There are days when I am impatient because I see how desperately our students, staff and faculty need to see change now, or better yet yesterday, to feel safe, loved, and welcome just as they are. On the many occasions I’ve had a student sitting across my desk with tears in their eyes because they were fired from their hometown summer job for coming out as a lesbian or because they had been harassed simply for using a restroom between classes or because they weren’t sure if they would have a home to go back to after coming out as gay during the holiday break. On those days, I am reminded that we’ve still got work to do.
While it would be easy to become discouraged or to leave work feeling hopeless, the friends, peers, colleagues, and even strangers that I have met in Kalamazoo keep me going. Their kindness, resilience and support remind me that we are not alone in this work. I have come to find love, friends, adventures and community in this city that I never expected to find in my life. Everywhere I go, I meet allies and LGBTQIA+ people from every walk of life who are working tirelessly to shape our neighborhoods, faith spaces, schools, businesses and organizations to be more welcoming spaces for all of us.
This past April, I had the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of graduating students I met as first-year students four years ago. They are going on to become educators, artists, engineers, nonprofit leaders, and so much more. I have seen them grow into confident, wise and spirited individuals. They are changing our community every day by living as their full authentic selves. Whether they remain here in Kalamazoo or not, I know that their experience in Kalamazoo will never leave them. Like them, I have been transformed during my time in this city. It has shown me that I’m not alone in my work, my identity, or my hope for a more inclusive society. When I think about these new graduates who have transformed into brave adults right in front of my eyes, I can see the progress we’re making as a community and I can’t wait to experience what’s to come.
Jen Hsu is director of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Student Services at Western Michigan University. The Office of LBGT Student Services is a unit of WMU's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Because of Anna Whitten, I can
Dr. Turnera Croom | May 26, 2016
Company founders often become laser-focused on the needs of the business or start-up venture – not surprising at all. Sometimes the death of a powerful, historic civil rights figure, especially in your own town, shakes some sense back into your myopic view of what’s important.
This happened to me. My new veteran-owned small business, Vets In 3D, has been making strides in the 3D print industry, with a focus on veterinary medicine.
As I prepare for the Power Networking Conference in Maryland next week, I’m thinking of how trailblazers like Mrs. Whitten may have been proud of my efforts. Not just as a Black woman, but as a person centered on exposing young people to animal science and the creativity of 3D printing. In continuance of her legacy, I plan to promote my integrated workshops for elementary through high school students, as well as my participation in the upcoming Black Arts Festival, hosted by the Black Arts Cultural Center.
I tuned in to Speak On It on The Touch 1560 AM this past Saturday and really listened as the people of Kalamazoo honored and remembered their civil rights icon and "Kalamazoo County Treasure" Mrs. Anna Whitten, who passed away recently. Mrs. Whitten was instrumental in helping to integrate Kalamazoo businesses in the 1950s and 1960s, which is what enables me to set up my veterinary 3D print shop without fear of blatant business discrimination.
Mrs. Whitten is credited for being a major force in creating the Douglass Community Association in Kalamazoo, which for 97 years has been a community hub on Kalamazoo’s northside – housing numerous organizations like Boys & Girls Club, Mothers of Hope, and the NAACP.
For a young Black female like me to have a chance to own a business or for my daughter to attend KVCC this fall, it’s because of ANNA WHITTEN THAT I CAN!
For my daughter, she must be aware that Mrs. Whitten was a member of KVCC’s board since 1968, and was instrumental in their program FOCUS (with WMU) that helps transition students to four-year universities. She will understand the importance of Mrs. Whitten’s involvement with Brother 2 Brother, a program that helps African American males work toward graduation. And as she navigates through KVCC and on to another school, she will also know, BECAUSE OF ANNA WHITTEN, SHE CAN!
Dr. Turnera Croom, a retired Army veterinarian, is Founder and CEO of Vets In 3D out of Kalamazoo. Vets In 3D's mission is to provide STEM workshops for Kalamazoo students focusing on Veterinary Medicine and 3D Printing.
Achieving independence with WEC
Martha | May 3, 2015
My name is Martha. I was a blessed recipient of the Women's Education Coalition Scholarship for five or six years ending in 2009. I went back to school at 38 years old, looking to move from a paraprofessional to a special education teacher. I think of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation so often and have been remiss in not expressing my deep gratitude for its belief in me and support of my venture.
A rocky marriage of more than two decades was part of my motivation to return to school. I had finally realized I could not stay in my oppressive situation. I figured pursuing the teaching degree I'd dreamed of my entire life would either fix some issues with myself and my marriage or afford me a way to support myself should the marriage not survive. With the Community Foundation's support, I plowed forward while working and raising my four children.
The fact that the Community Foundation chose to invest in me helped drive me when fear and exhaustion would threaten to take its toll. It was a powerful motivator!
I graduated in April 2009. Within a month I was hired by an alternative school for teens in Grand Rapids. I knew it was where I wanted to be and stopped looking for positions closer to home. I went from working in my small, mostly-white hometown to a diverse, urban setting. Diversity had always been important to me even though my town had pathetically little.
By mid-year, I filed for divorce and moved closer to my job. This was the right choice. I'm a much better person now.
It turns out I am pretty good at teaching. From day one, my specialty has been motivating kids to believe in themselves. I meet them where they are and encourage them to reach higher and achieve more. A no-brainer approach that works nearly every time.
A year ago, my superintendent invited me to interview for a position as an academic interventionist at our sister school. Something told me to keep an open mind and attend the interview. I arrived thinking there was no way I'd leave my current middle school class. The interview revealed that I would be part of a team responsible for raising the scores of a failing charter school in danger of being shut down. Seventy percent of the students speak English as a second language. One hundred percent live in poverty. I left the interview convinced that I was the person for the job.
In my first year our team raised student proficiency from less than one percent to nearly 30 percent. This is my second year at my school and we have a new focus. Statistics say that turning around secondary schools is a challenge that doesn't gain impressive results. Mid-year scores tell an entirely different story here.
I share this not to toot my own horn, but because I want people to know that the Community Foundation helped send me into the field God intended for me. The results have amazed me. It's surprising how a small amount of caring and mentoring can encourage a student to embrace their inner genius.
I recently received a pay raise and bonus and learned that administration would like me to begin coaching my fellow teachers in addition to my other duties.
When the Community Foundation began supporting me, I was a meek person with low self-esteem. My education has helped me work at becoming the person I was meant to be. As a single woman, I am able to maintain a decent standard of living and do some traveling as well. I love my life!
Next year I plan to move out of state to be near my new granddaughter. I look forward to seeing where my next challenge lies. I'm halfway through my master's degree in Middle Grades Studies. Those are my people. I see nothing but possibilities in my future.
The Community Foundation's support has changed my life and I am grateful!
We are accepting applications for the Women's Education Coalition scholarship now through May 15. Click here for more information.
Celebrating 100 years of Pretty Lake
Coby Chalmers | April 14, 2016
Pretty Lake Camp is a magical place. It lets campers who would otherwise never “get out of town” in the summer swim, play, garden, read and enjoy the beauty of the lake and the great outdoors.
For years I stood on corners and in front of stores collecting donations on Tag Day. Oftentimes, those who gave the most were those who had enjoyed time as Pretty Lake campers. As volunteers we cleaned the camp in the spring, checked the campers in at "Old Central" and assisted with camper pick up upon their return. Campers don’t bring anything along as they leave for camp – everything is provided, from their swimsuits and sweatshirts, to their toothbrushes and soap. For many of the campers, this is an experience they take with them throughout their lives. It is pretty cool.
Amazingly, this is the 100th year kids will be able to immerse themselves in this special place. ONE HUNDRED YEARS. That’s a long history for any organization, but especially remarkable for a summer camp that provides everything absolutely free. The Pretty Lake Camp connection with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation also goes back decades. In the 1940s the Community Foundation provided our first grant to the camp, followed by much more support over the years.
In the late 1940s Pretty Lake established an endowment fund with us, and as you think about endowment, it’s amazing to think about the fact that donations made to the Pretty Lake Camp Endowment Fund in the 1940s, 1950s, and all the decades since are still at work supporting the camp. Those gifts have grown, and will continue to grow, providing ever more support for the great work taking place on the lake. Since those early days the camp has expanded dramatically, new cabins have replaced the old, there is an Adventure Center, conference facilities, a camp garden providing fresh produce and a dramatically improved “mess hall." But with all of the changes, the core of their mission remains the same: to provide an outstanding camper experience for hundreds of children each summer, children who otherwise would never paddle off in a canoe, watch a sunset across a lake or sing around a campfire.
Congratulations to the thousands of volunteers, staff and donors who have made this a reality. Isn’t it wild to think about campers 100 years from now. The world will be dramatically different in 2116, but for the campers the joy of attending camp, learning to swim and watching the stars at night will remain.
A community with heart
Angela Brown | March 30, 2016
Just over a year ago on Valentine's weekend 2015 I moved to Kalamazoo to begin my new position as CEO at Community Promise Federal Credit Union.
It was exciting to be joining an organization whose mission is to help people in the community build their credit and learn budgeting skills. We offer fair pricing on products and services as an alternative to predatory lending. Ultimately, helping pave the way to a brighter financial future. The board, staff and volunteers are all wonderful people working together to help people and it is extremely gratifying. There also are numerous organizations collaborating with us in a multitude of ways and more keep coming forward.
After moving in, I took a drive and toured the area of Kalamazoo. I was thrilled to drive the hilly landscape, see beautiful farmland, and the fun and lively downtown area. I passed wonderful historical homes, Henderson Castle, The Civic, The Park Club, the Ladies' Library Association and Bronson Park. Instantly my mind travelled back to a bygone era, and I could sense what it must have been like to live here in the 1800s.
As time has gone by, what has taken me by surprise and brought me the purest happiness is the PEOPLE within the community! Every single person I've met has reached out to me with welcome and in friendship, and made moving away from my family and friends so much easier. I've begun to realize these people are the most incredible, caring people I have ever met! Everywhere I go I meet more like-minded individuals involved in philanthropic endeavors.
I have become inspired by the people of Kalamazoo, and motivated to work harder. It has turned out to be one of the happiest years of my life here in Kalamazoo, and I owe a debt of gratitude to the PEOPLE living here.
These people truly have HEART. I love Kalamazoo!
Angela Brown is CEO of Community Promise Federal Credit Union.
We are stronger together
Brenda Hunt, Mike Larson and Carrie Pickett-Erway | March 10, 2016
Since the Feb. 20 tragic shootings that claimed six innocent lives and critically wounded two, we’ve witnessed the power of resiliency and compassion throughout our region. People gathering to light candles, say prayers and hold one another. Outpourings of sympathy, united in a single phrase: Let us help.
Our regional community is unique in its resolve to rise above the negative. We don’t allow heartbreak to shape us. We don’t give in to circumstances. In the face of evil deeds, we refuse to succumb.
Instead, we as a region choose to define ourselves by love. We will turn to one another and provide support for victims and their families. We will be strong together. And we will be sure that the pain and suffering of these victims — and the victims from prior community violence — will be the catalyst for community conversations that create a better future.
Within hours of the recent shootings, Kellogg Co. stepped forward with a significant financial contribution to help the healing process begin.
The Battle Creek Community Foundation, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region came together to form the Help Now! Fund to support victims and families, strengthen our ties as a region and move us forward as a community that stands firm against violence.
We extend our deepest sympathies to all of the people affected by the recent tragic events. We’re humbled to be part of a generous, caring region that is determined to rise from the pain and heartache, show the world how to become something better, something stronger.
The tragedy is still fresh, the road ahead difficult. Many answers remain elusive. Many tears yet to be shed. But once again, our region refuses to be labeled by the malevolence of others.
We choose to change the story. We choose a better path, a journey taken together, hand in hand.
We are stronger together.
Brenda Hunt is President & CEO of the Battle Creek Community Foundation. Mike Larson is the President & CEO of the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region. Carrie Pickett-Erway is President/CEO of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
This post was originally published by the Battle Creek Enquirer on March 2, 2016.
Love and basketball
Carrie Pickett-Erway | March 1, 2016
The acts of violence that took place in our community on February 20 have left our community reeling. While you’ll hear more from us in the near future, I wanted to share a message I received from Chris McGuigan, my counterpart at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County. You’ll recall the community of Muskegon Heights also experienced a terrible, unexpected act of violence (at a high school basketball game) in February.
I have great respect for Chris and her message is a powerful example of how we can be a part of a larger response to building community. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do to build safe and equitable communities for all is to simply love one another and love where we live.
Hi Carrie
We are so sad for Kalamazoo as a community and especially the families of the victims of that man’s rampage. Yours is a GREAT and loving community — know that you are surrounded with our, and so many others’, thoughts and prayers.
Last night I received a copy of a letter written by our City Prosecutor asking everyone to go to the Muskegon Heights basketball game on Wednesday to show unity with our M.H. Tigers. You will see, or maybe heard already, that the school originally scheduled to play decided they were too afraid to come to the Heights to play Wednesday. I love that a team from Kalamazoo — Kalamazoo Lakeside Charter — said they would be happy to fill the slot left empty. At a time of grief and loss in their own community, their willingness to meet a need here sends such a message of friendship and love! I believe the gym will be filled to overflowing on Wednesday. Muskegon will take care of the team from Kalamazoo and send them back safely. And the Kalamazoo team is allowing us to take care of each other in a way that will make a long lasting difference. So grateful for that. I LOVE Kalamazoo!
Chris
What happened after Ta-Nehisi Coates visited our city?
Sue Ellen Christian | January 27, 2016
Everything and nothing, as you would expect. But also, for me, old ideas from the American psychologist Gordon Allport and the journalist Robert Maynard got a new hold on my imagination.
The auditorium was packed with 2,500 people and could have held more but word circulated that it would be standing-room only, so many people stayed away, though they didn’t need to, as the upper balconies still had seats. Still, the joint was pleasantly full that evening, November 4, 2015. It was the most ethnically diverse crowd I’ve ever seen in the Western Michigan University auditorium. People were talking about it as the cultural event of the fall. That is, until Gloria Steinem came two days later; then she was the cultural event of the fall. Interestingly, she was joining Coates in New York City the evening after her visit to Kalamazoo. In her Kalamazoo speech, she naturally married their two platforms: “You cannot be a racist and a feminist,” she told the audience.
Coates’s 30-minute talk, primarily about the disproportionately large number of incarcerated black men in America, was characteristically straightforward, frank, and steeped in historical references. One comment that drew a lot of applause: White supremacy is the longest-running and most lethal act of domestic terrorism in our country. His talk wasn’t covered by the city’s main news outlet because its small reporting staff was already stretched to cover the local elections also taking place that day.
Within an hour, the event was over, but only after a Q and A between Coates and two community representatives who were seated on a sofa that was brought out to the stage. Coates sat opposite them in an upholstered chair. The idea, apparently, was a Barbara Walters-style interview. But the interaction was awkward and the queries disconnected from the guts of Coates’s comments. And then the award-winning author and MacArthur Genius grant recipient, Coates, was gone from little ol’ Kalamazoo, best known for the song about the gal from here. And we were left with each other again.
In the wake of Coates’s visit, everything happened. The local organizations focused on racial equity and healing, which were already seeing increased interest in their programming due to national protests over the increasing number of black men killed by police, got even busier. Just one example: The Society for History and Racial Equity held a Summit on Racism a couple weeks after Coates’s visit. It drew many more participants than expected—close to 200, and the room’s capacity was 150. The organization’s racial healing retreat the following month quickly reached its maximum number of participants: 25.
And nothing happened. Kalamazoo remains divided largely along racial lines, with the 22 percent of the population that is black on the north and the 68 percent that is white to the west and south. The 6 percent of the Hispanic population generally resides in a pocket on the east side. County statistics from 2010 indicate that almost 44 percent of African Americans live in poverty, as compared to 16 percent of whites. And among the Christians of Kalamazoo, as elsewhere in the nation and as Martin Luther King Jr. noted years ago, Sunday at 11 a.m. continues to be largely segregated.
Inter-ethnic mixing doesn’t often happen spontaneously. Cultural happenings for adults remain largely divided by ethnicity, as do social outings and many clubs. As a rule the most diverse audiences are for local school and college athletic contests, at movie theatres, the shopping mall and downtown festivals.
An old idea has gripped me since Coates’s visit. And now I find myself emotionally attached to it, and this gives me the courage and motivation to better live the idea. In the 1950s, Allport, who studied personality and personality traits, devised the “contact hypothesis.” In a chapter in his book The Nature of Prejudice, Allport posited that intergroup relations could be improved if the contact involved four conditions: equal status between the groups (such as black and white people), common goals, intergroup cooperation, and the support of authorities, law, or custom. The contact hypothesis urges us to go beyond surface relationships and drive-by greetings. As applied to Kalamazoo, it would urge that blacks and whites do something meaningful together. We have to find situations in which we must cooperate, depend on one another, and pursue shared goals. If we do so, when we do so, “them” can become “us.”
Scholars following on from Allport’s work have found that the more we perceive a common identity that contains both “them” and “us,” the less we are biased against the original outsider group. The two subgroups find a common identity in a bigger group. We become Kalamazooans instead of North Siders and South Siders.
The simplicity and power of the contact hypothesis has never seemed more urgent to me. To escape prejudice and build the larger group, you have to purposefully seek out one- on-one meaningful relationships with unlike others. And in our city of 76,000, which I imagine is not too different from many small American cities, the lines are clearly drawn by neighborhood, income, schools, and occupations. So one must make an effort to cross the divides. The late Robert Maynard, a journalist, editor, and publisher who founded an institute for journalism education, called these fault lines—the boundaries of race, class, gender, generation and geography that shape and create social tensions.
As a journalist, I learned somewhere along the way—I don’t recall if it was from Maynard’s teachings or from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies—that a good rule of thumb is to cross two fault lines with each source. As an example, if I were seeking out residents to interview for a story about local water quality, I shouldn’t interview my mirror image— another white, heterosexual, middle-class, middle-aged woman. I might look for a senior citizen who is Hispanic, or a gay man who doesn’t live in my neighborhood. This ensures that as a reporter, I don’t simply seek out those sources that look like and act like me, sources that are easily within my comfort zone.
Coates’s visit got me thinking about applying Robert Maynard’s fault-lines approach to regular life outside of journalism. Seek out people who cross my fault lines, and do this as intentionally as the contact hypothesis’s prescription for creating meaningful relationships with unlike others.
When I shared these thoughts with Donna Odom, the executive director of the Society for History and Racial Equity, she responded: “Exactly what the retreats, community discussions, and book club are all about!” She was kind to hold back from a simple “Duh.”
My son, who is in the seventh grade at an ethnically diverse public school, is already easily crossing the lines. He invited a friend, who is African American, to come along with our family to hear Coates. When we picked up the friend, I stood talking with the boy’s mom on the front porch of their home on our city’s North Side. We didn’t talk long due to the chill and the fact she was still in her short-sleeved medical scrubs from her work shift. We were talking about what time we’d get her son back that evening and what it was we were taking him to and who Coates was. It was mom stuff, not race stuff. And, I realized later, that was exactly the point.
Sue Ellen Christian is a professor of journalism in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. She is the author of Overcoming Bias: A Journalist’s Guide to Culture and Context (Holcomb Hathaway, 2011).
Originally published by Zeteo.
StoryCorps Out Loud
Gordon Bolar | January 20, 2016
A year ago, I met with StoryCorps founder Dave Isay to discuss WMUK’s plans to bring StoryCorps Out Loud to Kalamazoo. He asked me why out of all the initiatives StoryCorps offered I chose Out Loud, which focuses on capturing and recording LGBTQ stories. I said that Kalamazoo had many stories from the LGBTQ community that need to be preserved, validated and heard. Some of these stories would be related to the history of LGBTQ individuals in Kalamazoo. I said that our vision included a multi-event community-wide focus on LGBTQ stories and that we had excellent potential partners.
The first three parts of our Honoring Identity project in 2015, included a StoryCorps Out Loud residency, a presentation by Dave Isay and a presentation by activist speaker Cripin Torres at Transgender Remembrance Day. On Thursday, January 28 at 5:30 p.m. we will hold our project finale: Honoring Identity: LGBTQ Stories from Kalamazoo.
This listening event honors the stories WMUK and StoryCorps collected in November. WMUK is proud to partner with The Resource Center and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership as we complete Honoring Identity. I hope everyone from the Kalamazoo community will be able to join us for this free event. We thank our funding source, Kalamazoo Community Foundation for helping make this project possible.
Gordon Bolar brings 16 years of Public Broadcasting experience to the position of General Manager at WMUK. Gordon served with Public Television and Public Radio stations in Grand Rapids and Anchorage, Ala. He was also WMUK's Development Director for five years.
Find your cause
Brittany Morton | January 14, 2016
Recently, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation – in partnership with Volunteer Kalamazoo – hosted an event where community members could find their cause. We invited community members to our collaborative office space to pair with local nonprofits that are looking to fill spots on their boards or committees.
We received great feedback from attendees and the 15 nonprofits represented. This feedback has encouraged us to make this event a more regular occurrence.
We created this space for this convening because we know that giving back is not limited to giving money. Resources like time and expertise are just as valuable to the community, and we know that they need to be leveraged. All community members, young and old, have something to give back to their community. That is why we have been working to broaden our scope of partners and friends at KZCF.
Find Your Cause was created as a follow up to our Giving Tuesday event at Bell’s Back Room as an opportunity to give time and expertise, rather than money. This past August we hosted our 90th Birthday Party, held in our very own backyard here at 402 East Michigan Avenue. Each of these events gave us the opportunity to meet new friends and connect at a different level with old friends. As the community’s foundation, it is important to us to have the community member’s perspective in order to leverage our resources most effectively.
As a young and philanthropically minded person just starting off in my career, I can forget that I have much to offer the nonprofit world – even if it might not be in the form of dollars. I have a suspicion that my feeling is a shared one.
As we at KZCF look forward to this year, we plan to continue to create consistent spaces of engagement with a broader range of community members who love where they live and are looking to engage deeply with their community.