When seeking substance abuse recovery or increasing wellness, support is vital. The Kalamazoo Wellness and Recovery Festival is intended to provide hope, support, resources, and more. The festival, which will feature food, music, and 60 vendors, takes place Sat., Sept. 16 at Bronson Park.
Kalamazoo's last-standing 'newsstand' is still the place to go to check Kalamazoo's pulse. Once filled with newspapers from around the world, Michigan News has migrated toward the literary — thousands of books, many by local authors, hosted readings, and the largest collection of magazines around. Read all about it!
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is launching a pilot program to provide telehealth care to children in the City of Kalamazoo who may have no access to clinics or needed specialists. A pilot will soon get underway to reach families in need of care that only specialists can provide.
School's out for the summer and some youth may be feeling restless. Why not enroll in a Kalamazoo Park Recreation program, Kik Pool, WMU eSports, or Camp Kzoo? For free! Thanks to the Kalamazoo Friends of Recreation.
Downtown art patrons are familiar with MRC artWorks and its colorful storefront. For 54 years, MRC Industries has been cultivating the artist in people with disabilities while preparing them through job and living skills training to lead full, independent lives. With new CEO Dan Pontius, positive changes are on the horizon.
The search for housing can be its own form of trauma. For Tamika Williams a $1,215 unpaid rent payment has been standing between her and a place to stay for her and her two children as she has visited agency after agency since September of 2022. But there appears to be help on the horizon.
The third Kalamazoo Lyceum convened at the Kalamazoo Nature Center in May to focus on nature and what it means to the community. Protecting wild, urban spaces; cleaning up the Kalamazoo River; and halting pollution of our neighborhoods were just a few of the topics that arose. The general consensus: Hope plus action can equal impactful change.
Expanded trails and added bike lanes have been part of the push for cyclist safety in the Kalamazoo community. Still, getting from Point A to Point B can pose challenges, especially for those who are traveling with children. Avid cyclist and SW Second Wave Writer Mark Wedel speaks to local road-savvy bicyclists and shares some resources for choosing the safest routes.
Kalamazoo's Youth Juvenile Justice Fellowship program supports the development of youth advocates in the community, as well as a vision to create an alternative to youth incarceration in Kalamazoo. Southwest Michigan Second Wave's Mark Wedel speaks to a family who was impacted by an inequitable response when their son was nine, a situation which inspired them to get involved in advocating for juvenile justice reform.
The Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition has launched an $11 million fundraising campaign to preserve and renovate the 167-year-old First Baptist Church, which it now owns. Started five years ago, KNAC's mission is to create an inclusive, collaborative, affordable space for artists, nonprofits, and start-ups. "I believe a shared story of Kalamazoo is evolving," says KNAC Board Director Dann Sytsma, "and a shared space like KNAC can be an agent for that positive change."
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