Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave's On the Ground Kalamazoo series.


KALAMAZOO, Michigan – Something about a new year causes many of us to think about the future, and wish for better luck, better opportunities, better health, better results, and better times.
 
As we head into 2024, we thought we’d contact several people who are working to help make the Greater Kalamazoo community a better place to live, work, and enjoy. We thought we’d ask three forward-looking questions, generally about their hopes for the new year.
 
Here is what they had to say.
 
Joshua Hilgart, executive director of the Kalamazoo DefenderJoshua Hilgart is executive director of The Kalamazoo Defender, a nonprofit organization of attorneys that is taking a holistic approach to criminal defense in Kalamazoo County’s criminal justice system.

What are some of your greatest hopes for the community? 

I would like to see solidarity grow among community advocates so that often-splintered efforts to address inequities within Kalamazoo can become a single wave of love and hope. A united front can produce more comprehensive and sustainable results. It is also more likely to shift community perceptions and frames related to systems that have outsized influence over human dignity.

What do you see now that gives you hope for the coming year?

These are complicated times and hope can sometimes be a struggle. However, there is an increasing number of people who have grown aware of how tenuous life is for those on the margins, which can only erode our ability to ignore such despair.

When it comes to hope and being hopeful, can you share a reflection, piece of advice, quick story, trusted practice, or lesson that has served you well?

I have learned that you'll never get it perfectly right, so give yourself grace. The corollary is that no one else is ever going to get it perfectly right either and they deserve the same. Be kind to yourselves and others.
 
Kama Tai Mitchell, executive director and founder of Rootead Enrichment CenterKama Tai Mitchell is the founder and executive director of Rootead Enrichment Center, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the lived experiences of BIPOC people. It strives to provide connection and support for them through birth justice, youth empowerment, and community healing.
 
QUESTION: What are some of your greatest hopes for the community?

That the stark disparity between the classes reduces. (Mitchell adds she hopes to see the entire community achieve generational wealth and health.) 

What do you see now that gives you hope for the coming year?

That more of the community is aware of the disparities (between people) and is eager and willing to change it for the better.

When it comes to hope and being hopeful, can you share a reflection, piece of advice, quick story, trusted practice, or lesson that has served you well?

I have cultivated hope right behind a gratitude practice. They go hand in hand. It’s much easier to cultivate gratitude if your nervous system is regulated. Regulate your nervous system, cultivate gratitude daily, and watch your hope cup become full up!
 
Sean Harris, executive director of the Recovery Institute of Southwest MichiganSean Harris is executive director of the Recovery Institute of Southwest Michigan, a nonprofit organization that offers peer support to people who have mental health and/or substance use concerns.
 
What are some of your greatest hopes for the community?

Kalamazoo is a very generous community. But there are often large distances between those who give and those who receive. I would like to see more collaborative efforts to bring people closer together in mutual understanding and respect.

What do you see now that gives you hope for the coming year?

I am seeing a knitting together of various smaller organizations in Kalamazoo that are working as volunteers and professionals together with people they serve to overcome barriers to full participation.

When it comes to hope and being hopeful, can you share a reflection, piece of advice, quick story, trusted practice, or lesson that has served you well?

I find hope in the small things: a good song, a shared joke, and on pathways through the woods.

Jonathan Yarbrough, Operations Manager for the Douglass Community AssociationJonathan Yarbrough is the operations manager for Douglass Community Association, a center for social, recreational, and community development activities that serves individuals and families in Kalamazoo’s Northside Neighborhood--as well as the greater community.
 
What are some of your greatest hopes for the community?

I hope for communities where empathy thrives, where people actively listen to and understand each other's points of view. I also hope for communities where everyone feels appreciated and respected, regardless of their background, views, or identity, and that all people have equal opportunities for growth and achievement.

What do you see now that gives you hope for the coming year?

The growth and commitment of numerous organizations and individuals (working) to making the world more inclusive and equitable.

When it comes to hope and being hopeful, can you share a reflection, piece of advice, quick story, trusted practice, or lesson that has served you well?

I was told that "Tomorrow’s a new day that hasn't been touched yet." 

Pierre van der Westhuizen is executive and artistic director of the Gilmore International Piano Festival, a nonprofit organization that works to present the highest level of pianism and musicianship in the field of classical, jazz, and other genres where the piano plays a central role. 
 
What are some of your greatest hopes for the community?

I look forward to Kalamazoo returning to full pre-pandemic strength in support for the arts and entertainment industry here, to help keep this the vibrant, colorful, and dynamic community my family and I have come to love and cherish. My hope is that every person in Kalamazoo gets to experience all of the variety of events at the next Gilmore Festival in 2024, and indeed the entire arts community is working to provide access to our exciting programming. Art should be shared and enjoyed by an entire community in order to achieve its full expression.

What do you see now that gives you hope for the coming year?

Kalamazoo is remarkable because of the people here. This is a community that punches well above its weight in support of so many nonprofits in town. The fact that many organizations continued to grow in the last few years in spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, just shows the resilience and determination of the people here, and that gives enormous hope for what’s to come.

When it comes to hope and being hopeful, can you share a reflection, piece of advice, quick story, trusted practice, or lesson that has served you well?

My father always used to say, "If you want to make God chuckle, tell Him your plans," — meaning, we truly don’t know what’s around the corner (like the impossible events of 2020, where I had to cancel all the plans for my very first Gilmore Festival). So it’s best to live with an attitude of gratefulness. When you live with gratitude, it’s really impossible not to have hope in a very general sense. But also hope for specific things. 

(H adds he’s grateful for the incredible support of this community.) It gives me enormous hope for the future of The Gilmore, and because I’m grateful to have my family in a community that has something like The Kalamazoo Promise (college tuition program for Kalamazoo Public Schools graduates), it’s impossible NOT to have great hope for my kids’ futures. Cheers to 2024!