“Music feeds the soul, feeds the brain, and it can be a wonderful way to commune with people,” says Joanna Steinhauser, concertmaster of the 'K Phil,' a multi-generational, Kalamazoo College community orchestra. “Students can sometimes live inside a bubble in college, but this gets them out of that bubble and to share something beautiful with the community.”
While church attendance is shrinking worldwide and ethnic conflicts abound, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, the little church in Vine, is growing by the week. At some masses, the Lord's Prayer is recited in up to seven languages. “The world isn’t always about love and peace,” says Father Bryce Vasilios Buffenbarger. “But we hope people that come to this church will find it here."
Kids in Tune, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, has been sharing the joy that comes with learning to play a musical instrument with students for 12 years. This El Sistema-inspired musical foundation has had a profound impact on over 1,500 students' lives.
Global Ties Kalamazoo introduces Kalamazoo to the world and brings the world to Kalamazoo. Compared to cities like New York or Chicago, Kalamazoo might not seem like a draw for foreign dignitaries and international leaders in their fields, but the memorable homestays and sense of community make the city an appealing destination.
Folk musician Bob Rowe was in the midst of a demanding music career when a transformational moment opened a pathway to combine music, ministry, and the elderly. For over four decades and as a culmination of what he holds sacred, Rowe has been performing at nursing homes in Southwest Michigan, often with his band, Green Valley Boys. "I have the heart of a priest and the soul of a musician — that is how I have lived my life.”
A variety of holistic mental health options exist that are free or nearly so. Here is a roundup of research-proven ideas to increase well-being.
Los enfoques holísticos de la salud mental y el bienestar han ganado popularidad en la cultura occidental y atraen a aquellos que buscan un enfoque diferente para sentirse mejor.
While K-12 teachers and administrators are considered to be essential workers—and perhaps never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic—research shows that the well-being of these people has been on the decline.
Recovery Institute of Southwest Michigan, Inc. in Kalamazoo, is run entirely by peers. The nonprofit was established in 2006 on the peer support concept. All but one of the 16 staff members have all traveled the challenging path of recovery with various mental health and/or substance abuse issues and now they help others like themselves.
La idea detrás de Warmline es que se trata de una línea de escucha dirigida por pares para prevenir una crisis, diseñada para ofrecer apoyo y conectar a las personas con los recursos que necesitan.
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