Author

Al Jones

Al Jones

Al Jones is a freelance writer who has worked for many years as a reporter, editor, and columnist. He is the Project Editor for On the Ground Kalamazoo.

Al Jones's Latest Articles

Heritage Community of Kalamazoo opens a new independent living community for older adults

People aged 60 and older are retiring in huge numbers. They’re more active, live  longer, and embrace more innovative ways to live independently than earlier retirees. Revel Creek at the Heritage Community in Kalamazoo was built for them.

Soulful events center offers a new concept for food, drink, song, and dance in downtown Kalamazoo

Kimberly Guess wants to create the type of social experiences that she would like to go to in Kalamazoo. So she works with individuals and organizations to plan and organize parties, receptions, meetings, reunions, and all sorts of private gatherings at The Xperience by Luxury Escapes, a 3,200-square-foot venue downtown.

As the need for shelter rises and temps drop, Kalamazoo’s drop-in center plans to remain flexible

Ministry With Community helps lots of people who are unhoused. And Executive Director Kelly Henderson says the nonprofit is seeing more working people who are struggling to put food on the table. The number of people of all kinds who need help is rising.

City of Kalamazoo has a pre-approved plan for new housing development

With several of their collaborative partners, Kalamazoo city officials showcased a new housing project in the Vine Neighborhood that will become a model of pre-selected, pre-approved, and pre-permitted plans that can be used to build housing on city property lots.

What’s in the cupboard? Opportunities to help the hungry, build self-reliance, bring folks together

The Edison Neighborhood Association has become home to the Community Cupboard, an outdoor, closet-sized shed with a refrigerator to provide food at any time of day to those in need.

Coffee anyone? Water Street Coffee Joint opens new location on Harrison St. in downtown Kalamazoo

Efforts to develop and redevelop properties in Kalamazoo’s Northside Neighborhood got a fresh-roasted jolt recently with the opening of the sixth location of the Water Street Coffee Joint.  

Two years later, an advocacy group for the homeless in Kalamazoo says a crisis approach is necessary

Many organizations across the community work to provide resources for the unhoused, especially as winter approaches. Grassroots organizers, nonprofits, and city and county officials all have roles in the effort.

The LodgeHouse: Long-term housing for the homeless is open for occupancy in Kalamazoo

Efforts to find a place for those without housing have taken a step forward in Kalamazoo as 60 subsidized, efficiency-style apartments officially opened Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, The months-long conversion of the former Knights Inn Motel at 1211 S. Westnedge Ave. has been completed and the LodgeHouse is available for occupancy.  

New Behavioral Health Care Center in Kalamazoo will help those in crisis and those helping them

The $5 million freestanding Behavioral Health Urgent Care and Access Center is expected to have nine treatment rooms, waiting rooms, a lobby, a reception area, a conference room, and a security office. It will also have a police/ambulance entrance.

How do you respond to the man with the cardboard ‘Homeless’ sign?

Although good statistics on how many unhoused people struggle with addiction are difficult to find, estimates are that a high percentage of Kalamazoo’s homeless population use alcohol and drugs.

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