Dr. Michelle Johnson, Playgrown CEO, is seen here with a tomato and a pepper.

Big plans for small homes where the houseless used to live in Kalamazoo

Home Start Initiative, a plan for cooperative living near the site of the Ampersee homeless encampment, hopes to be sustainable, correct injustices, and give women and children shelter. But they need $4 million.

From left The Wood family at Celebration: Amy, Ellery and Aidan.
Theater chain finds ways to make more movies accessible to everyone

From Sensory Showtimes to closed captioning, Celebration Cinema is finding new ways to make movies and entertainment accessible to everyone.

$300,000 in Micro-Enterprise Grants is set to help 60 Kalamazoo-based businesses

The third round of grants to help small businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 shutdown – announced on Aug. 18, 2022 -- will help 60 local enterprises clear hurdles like those, and many others. Each business is set to receive a $5,000 share of some $300,000 allocated in the Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grant program.

Voices of Youth: Transportation, a photo story

From walking, to biking, to taking the bus the ways of getting around Kalamazoo are many. Here are some scenes from the street as seen by a Voices of Youth Program participant.

Paving the way to road repairs, not an easy drive for some Calhoun County townships

When it comes to fixing the roads in some Calhoun County townships finding the funding can be a challenge. 

Carol Sodman-Morris serves as a home visit nurse for the  Achieving Birth Equity Through Systems Transformation program.
Michigan project creates framework for communities to reduce racial disparities in infant deaths

The new effort aims to build community power, map local ecosystems, and provide equity training to reduce significant disparities in infant mortality.

A new state program is providing an opportunity to reframe the mindset of parents of young children with disabilities. (Canva)
New training supports children with developmental disabilities

A new statewide program, Paving the Way to Self Determination, has been developed to raise the expectations families have for their children with developmental disabilities.

Growing a business, a family affair for one Battle Creek family

Four years ago a honey collecting venture turned into a U-pick flower farming enterprise for the Laupps, a Battle Creek Family. Now more than one million flowers including 500 zinnias are growing at the ZEMR Family Farms.

Coffee and alcohol, a winning combination for Battle Creek startup

A business that creates a K-POD that becomes a hot drink with alcohol has been growing in Battle Creek since it launched in 2018. Now Cask & Kettle is selling 600,000 K-PODS annually and is closing in this year on just over $1 million in annual sales.

Huge new apartment complex may open in fourth quarter of 2023 in Kalamazoo County

The Abbey42 apartment complex is a $64.6 million, multi-family housing development that has been in the works in Pavilion Township in Kalamazoo County since 2018, and it includes the construction of 11 buildings with a total of 344 living units.

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