Kalamazoo Students Headed to Africa to Help Install Water Purification Systems

Don't know about you, but personally I feel that there are not enough positive stories about urban education and the youth therein. Here's an exception:

A group of Kalamazoo students will leave on an overseas trip today, but they won’t be spending time on the beach or at tourist attractions.

Eight students from Kalamazoo and six adults will spend 15 days learning about culture in Senegal and doing community service as part of the Urban Youth for Africa. The program, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Deacon’s Con­ference, is in its third year and its first as a partner of Clean Water for the World.

“There are ways to learn out­side school,” Cranston Mitch­ell, 18, said. “You can learn anywhere.”

The students, who will be staying near the capitol city of Dakar, will be matched up with local students to do workshops, find common ground and en­gage in “mutual culture ex­changes” in collaboration with the Africulturban Community Center, a radio station, youth center and performance space in Pikine.

And they will install a water purification system at the community center as well as one at a school in Pikine.

www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/06/8_kalamazoo_students_headed_to.html

The Sandbox Party Salutes Governor Snyder's New Office of Great Start

Before the real work begins in hammering out the details, early childhood supporters from the tip of Copper Country in the Upper Peninsula to Wayne County in Southeast Michigan paused to commend Governor Rick Snyder’s action (on Wednesday) creating a Michigan Office of Great Start by Executive Order.

The action:

• Places the new Office within the Michigan Department of Education;
• Provides the Superintendent of Public Instruction “all administrative powers, duties, functions and responsibilities” over the new Office;
• Transfers to the new Office all responsibilities of the Office of Child Development and Care within the Department of Human Services;
• Transfers to the new Office all responsibilities of the Head Start Collaboration Office within the Department of Human Services;
• and transfers to the new Office all responsibilities of the Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Services within the Michigan Department of Education

www.michigansandboxparty.org/media/in-the-news/react-office-great-start

Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan Celebrates 30th Anniversary

No one likes to think of death, of what their life — or the life of a loved one — will be like when the end is near.

Easing that end-of-life concern led to the creation of the first modern hospice in the U.S. in 1974, with the idea spreading to southwest Michigan in just a few years.

The concept behind hospice care — that people in the end stages of life deserve to live comfortably and in dignity — took root in Kalamazoo in 1981 with the launch of Hospice of Greater Kalamazoo. Now called Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, the nonprofit organization is celebrating 30 years of serving the community, of helping the dying live out the remainder of their lives peacefully and guiding family members as they cope with the loss of a loved one.

The organization has come a long way in just 30 years.

Initially funded as a pilot program with a $100,000 grant from the Kalamazoo Foundation (now Kalamazoo Community Foundation) with other assorted grants and donations, its first headquarters was donated office space inside St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. From helping 72 families in its first year, Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan has worked with “thousands and thousands” of clients and families over the agency’s history, according to Kelly McCormick, chief operating officer for Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan.

www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/06/ce_care_of_southwest_michigan.html

Habitat for Humanity Opens Re-Store In Allegan

Lakeshore Habitat For Humanity cut the ribbon Monday, June 20, on its new Re-Store in Allegan, at 1513 Lincoln Road.

Providing building materials, appliances and home furnishings for as little as 50 percent of retail cost, the Re-Store's profits help fund the nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry's mission: partnering with families in need to build homes.

Lakeshore Habitat Re-Store director Chris Tucker said the business had been in the planning for a year and renovations to the 6,800-square-foot building took seven weeks. It will be open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Sunday).

Store manager Chad Bryson said he was getting a lot of positive feedback from the community.

"I think the store fills a niche," Bryson said, "especially now, with the job losses and gas prices. We're the perfect place to shop."

Habitat Re-Stores are stocked with items other stores and contractors donate (or discontinue); they are not defective.

www.allegannews.com/articles/2011/06/23/local_news/4.txt

NPR Report: Food Bank Shortages Lead To Innovation

Food banks around the country are trying to keep their shelves stocked as more people in the U.S. struggle to get enough to eat. Increasingly, that means finding new ways to salvage food that would otherwise go to waste.

One innovation is being tested at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee. In a back room at the food bank's warehouse in Gray, Tenn., dented and crushed cans containing everything from green beans to beets are piled high on a counter.

In the past, these cans all would have been thrown out, because no one knew whether bacteria had slipped through a crack, spoiling the contents.

But Scott Kinney, who's in charge of finding food supplies for the food bank, says that might be about to change.

He puts several damaged cans into a box-shaped machine with a clear lid. It's a vacuum packaging machine — the kind usually used to seal food in plastic.

"Right now it's setting up the vacuum," he says, as the machine motor starts to hum. "You can watch; the cans will move a little bit as the vacuum gets to its highest pressure point."

The cans vibrate, then puff up like little balloons as the machine sucks out all the air in the chamber. They return to normal when the machine stops.

www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137375088/food-bank-shortages-lead-to-innovation

Feeding America West Michigan Looking for Matching Donations to Expand Benton Harbor Distribution Facility

From the Feeding America West Michigan web site:

We’ve just been promised the support of the Frederick S. Upton Foundation for our efforts to expand the capacity of our new Benton Harbor warehouse – but only if you step up, too!

To provide families in need in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties with the 10 million pounds of supplemental food they need each year, we’ve got to equip the building with a REALLY BIG cooler/freezer and lots of shelving (racking, really) designed to hold full pallets of food.

Help us meet the Foundation’s challenge to raise $20,000 and they’ll send us a matching $20,000 – enabling us to increase the flow of food to the southwest Michigan families who need it most.

For more information including how to donate, see the Feeding America West Michigan web site at:

www.feedingamericawestmichigan.org/blog/2011/06/17/upton-match-donation-challenge/

WMU partners to open new center to help autistic children in Portage

The vacant Moose Lodge on Portage Road could become the home of a new center that will help autistic children and their families from Southwest Michigan as well as the entire state.

The Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research, which would provide both outpatient and inpatient care, could open as early as March 2012, said Scott Schrum, chief executive officer of Residential Opportunities Inc. ROI is a Kalamazoo nonprofit organization that serves people with disabilities.

Schrum said ROI hopes to finalize the $675,000 sale of the building at 9616 Portage Road late next month or early August and begin a $1.7 million renovation project in September, in time to open its doors by early next year.

So far, ROI has raised $636,000 of the $2.5 million needed to buy and refurbish the old 18,500-square-foot lodge.

Schrum said the new center could help 20 children a year who would otherwise be stuck on a waiting list trying to get into intensive inpatient treatment at the other three autistic centers in Michigan. The outpatient program would serve up to 100 children annually in the greater Kalamazoo County area.

"The impact for these children will be huge," Schrum said of the center, which would be a partnership between ROI and the Western Michigan University Department of Psychology.

A professor, two graduate assistants and interns from the psychology department would join 35 other employees to run the center, which would be staffed 24/7.

Autism is a disorder that affects one out of every 110 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/06/center_to_help_autistic_childr.html

Linking Education, Activity, and Nutrition (L.E.A.N.) Growing A Garden for Area Food Banks & Providing Education Training

Marking its second year, The Project Linking Education, Activity, and Nutrition (L.E.A.N.) Community Garden officially took roots this week in Paw Paw with a county-wide partnership that includes the Community Based Transition Center for Disabled Students ages 18-26, the Community Mental Heath Adult clients, the Van Buren Intermediate School District Learning Center for special needs students, as well as the VBISD Summer Migrant Education Program, and various other community organizations

The Community Garden Project will provide produce for local food banks. In addition, it will provide gardening and nutrition education programs, canning and food preservation classes, food for the disadvantaged youth and their families, as well as produce to be sold at local farmers markets for entrepreneurship training for youth and disabled populations.

www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20463113&BRD=2188&PAG=461&dept_id=560363&rfi=6

Kalamazoo County Considers November Ballot Requesting Funds for Housing for Homeless

The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners will talk today (Tuesday) about putting a tax question on the November ballot to fund more housing for the homeless.

The discussion will take place during today's 4 p.m. Committee of the Whole Meeting at the Kalamazoo County Administration Building, 201 W. Kalamazoo Ave.

The Kalamazoo County Public Housing Commission Chairman David Anderson is expected to ask the county commissioners to put a 0.33 mill request on the Nov. 8 ballot.

www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/06/tax_proposal_to_fund_housing_f.html

Food Bank of South Central Michigan Sponsors Friday Battle Creek Food Giveaway Throughout the Summer

Adora Johnson watched contentedly Friday morning as dozens of people, including some of her neighbors on Battle Creek's north side, walked up the driveway of the Washington Heights Community House.

A longtime resident of the Washington Heights neighborhood, Johnson helped the travelers, many of whom arrived on foot, sign up for free groceries. She later pointed them toward several long tables where polite young men bagged milk, eggs, potatoes, cereal and other produce for each customer.

"If you can help fix a meal for one child, you're doing a lot. There's a need for help in a lot of ways," Johnson said in the shade of the community house, one of seven food distribution sites in Battle Creek that began summer operations Friday.

The weekly giveaway of fresh produce from mid-June to late September is part of an annual feeding operation by the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, which provides truck loads of food to the sites, which in turn give it away every Friday on a first-come, first-served basis.The dispensation was especially sweet Friday in central Washington Heights, a community with hunger needs that hasn't had a weekly pick-up site since the last one ended several years ago at the Washington Heights United Methodist Church on Wood Street. Users of the summer food program in that area have had to drive or get rides to one of the other sites; the closest is Second Missionary Baptist on Washington Avenue.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110618/NEWS01/106180302/Free-food-offered-every-Friday

Michigan League for Human Services Releases Public Spending & Young Adults Report

From MLHS:  The latest Tax Dollars at Work: Public Spending for Selected Health and Social Programs in Michigan (pdf) report is now available. It outlines, by county, the amount spent on major health and social programs as well as the number of recipients.

It's invaluable information to have to understand the economic impact and needs of residents at a local level.

In addition, a new report from the Michigan League for Human Services and Demos finds that young adults in Michigan have lost major economic ground over the last four decades. The paper, Building Michigan's Future Middle Class: Addressing the Economic Challenges Facing Young Adults, (pdf) was released today at a policy forum on young adults.

Please go to www.milhs.org to see the press release and PowerPoint presentations from the four speakers.

Berrien County Needs More Foster Homes/Parents

Within two weeks of having their first foster child reunite with his mother, Brandon and Pam Lubbert had gotten several phone calls from the Michigan Department of Human Services about taking in other children.

The Buchanan couple say it’s evidence of the drastic need for more foster families in the county.

There are currently about 400 foster children in Berrien County and only 130 licensed foster parents, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS).

“We are definitely always in need of more foster homes,” said Heather Hoffman, children’s services supervisor with DHS in Berrien County.

The Lubberts, who have been licensed foster parents for about a year, believe it’s difficult to find families willing to commit the time and energy into foster parenting.

“It’s not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination,” Pam said. “There are time constraints, money constraints. You have to have people that are very committed to kids.”

But, for Pam, the smile of their 7-month-old foster daughter makes it all worth it.

“They become a part of you, even after they leave. A little part of you will stay with them,” she said.

www.nilesstar.com/2011/06/15/county-in-need-of-foster-homes/

Elder Rights Workshop to be Held in St. Joseph County

St. Joseph County will host a first of a kind Elder Rights Awareness Training Day at the St. Joseph County Courthouse on June 21. The event is being held in recognition of June 21 being recently proclaimed “Elder Rights Awareness Day” by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners.

The program will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. in the lower level conference rooms of the Courthouse.
Probate Judge Thomas Shumaker said everyone is welcome.

There will be a diverse group of presenters and topics concerning elders rights including:

* Court interventions and strategies to keep elders safe, guardianships and conservatorships.
* St. Joseph County Vulnerable Adult Protocol — What is it? Who should use it?
* The role of the Department of Human Services, Adult Services Division.
* An update on the Estate Recovery Act implementation in Michigan.
* Law enforcement intervention.
* Domestic and Sexual Abuse Services & Personal Protection Orders.
* A community response panel discussion regarding community resources, how groups work together to inform, serve and protect vulnerable adults.

www.sturgisjournal.com/features/x1732973864/Elder-rights-training-set

Berrien County Grant Seeks Alternatives to Jail for the Mentally Ill

For too long, police officers have felt perplexed in dealing with mentally ill people who crowd jails and prisons.

Now, Berrien County officials are pursuing a different approach to address the problem.

On Friday, 71 police officers, firefighters, school officials and mental health professionals met at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center to discuss steps to break the cycle that shuffles mentally ill people from hospitals to lockups and back again.

In October the county received a $50,000 federal planning grant "to look at how we create better collaboration between the entities of justice and mental health (agencies)," said Terrie Mattes, intake manager for the Berrien County Trial Court Family Division.

"Out of that (money) we've done a variety of training events and developed a three-year strategic plan," she said.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration. The project is an effort of the courts, the county prosecutor's office, the county Juvenile Center, which is operated by the Family Division, and mental health agencies.

"We're targeting Benton Harbor and Niles, because 70 percent of all juveniles on probation reside in those communities," Matthes said. "If we can reduce the number of kids that are entering the criminal justice system from those two communities, we will reduce the probation caseloads, costs to the courts, things like that."

The next step is training police officers and first responders in dealing with the mentally ill's behavior while helping families get the services they need, Matthes said.

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/12/local_news/5186752.txt

Upjohn Institute Economist to Address Importance of Pre-School Education at SW Michigan College

Tim Bartik, Ph.D., a senior economist with the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, will be the keynote speaker at the Cass County Great Start Business Summit on Tuesday, June 28, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Mathews Conference Center at Southwestern Michigan College.

The summit is sponsored by the Great Start Collaborative of Cass County, in partnership with Midwest Energy Cooperative of Cassopolis.

The summit will address how investing in quality early childhood education and programs impacts economic development and the business community...

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Heather Merrill at (269) 445-6217 or

hmerrill@lewiscassisd.org

Reservation deadline is June 20.

The Great Start Collaborative is a group made up of parents, clergy, business people and health and human service organization leaders, with a mission to insure that all children arrive at the kindergarten door ready, willing and able to succeed in school and in life.

www.dowagiacnews.com/2011/06/09/great-start-business-summit/

Kids Food Basket: A Summer Hunger Prevention Program for Kids in G.R.

Summer school supper feeding program for kids in Grand Rapids, Kid's Food Basket, debuts their promotional video:

Bread for the World Addresses Reasons to Protect Safety-Net Programs

Amid the tense budget climate in Washington, DC, Bread for the World members are urging their elected representatives to form a circle of protection around programs for hungry and poor people when Congress considers legislation to reduce federal deficits...

There are other persuasive reasons to protect safety-net programs. Sometimes we know that a policy is morally wrong but may still assume that otherwise it makes sense. But current proposals to reduce the resources available to hungry and poor people do not make sense.

In our last Bread newsletter, we talked about the necessity of reducing the federal deficit and current proposals to cut programs that support hungry and poor people, such as international food aid or SNAP (formerly food stamps). However, the United States simply does not spend enough on these programs to make a difference in the deficit. For more on why cuts to non-military discretionary spending will not solve the nation's fiscal problems, see "The U.S. Budget: Myths and Realities" at www.bread.org/hunger/budget.

But wouldn't cuts help a little, even if they are just drops in the bucket? Ordinarily, people think of budget cuts as saving money—by definition. But just like an individual trying to save money by skipping preventive maintenance of her furnace or roof or car, cutting safety-net programs doesn't save money because it adds to costs in other areas of the budget.

When full-time, year-round workers do not earn enough to eat fresh vegetables and whole grains regularly, the country's productivity suffers. When millions of children don't have enough nutritious food to concentrate in school, the country's future becomes bleaker. Ample data show that hunger and poverty increase the healthcare costs of adults and children—both now and years down the line. And unlike spending on programs such as WIC, rising healthcare costs are a significant cause of the budget deficit.

www.bread.org/what-we-do/resources/newsletter/june-2011/cost-hunger.html

Letter Writer Complains of Bridge Card Use for Junk Food

In Friday's edition of the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph Herald Palladium, a letter to the editor complains about Bridge card users "on more than one occasion" purchasing "Twinkies, frozen pizzas, Doritos, and several two-liter bottles of Pepsi."

The writer states that he "believe(s) that Bridge Card purchases should be limited to healthy, wholesome, staple foods only - fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, whole grain breads etc., and not include junk-food items such as chips and sugar-filled beverages."

Now I am not sure when the last time I saw anyone buy Twinkies at the local supermarket. I am not even sure there are any Twinkies, although there probably are.

Certainly, I have personally bought the other things on the list: frozen pizzas, Doritos, and Pepsi. I probably should not admit it, although my waste line would certainly expose the truth, that these are something like staples in my household.

I know that fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, etc. should instead be what we snack on. So, I don't object to the notion that we ALL should eat more healthy foods.

I live in Stevensville which has just opened a brand, spanking new Meijer store. When you first enter the grocery end of the store, you can be overwhelmed by the wonderful produce section. I mean it is absolutely beautiful. Fresh lettuce of numerous varieties, apples, corn, grapes, and myriad other fruits and vegetables bountifully greet shoppers.

Stevensville is not Bloomfield or Forest Hills, but we do have fewer children than the state average who qualify for the federal free/reduced price lunch program. Slightly more than 20% of the children in our school district qualify for this program. According to the State's Center for Education Performance and Information (CEPI) state-wide 46% of children in fall 2010 qualified for free/reduced price lunch.

I could be wrong, but my recollection is that the city of Benton Harbor (where 90% of children qualify for free/reduced price lunch) does not even have a grocery store. There are Aldis, Sav-A-Lot, Meijer, and a wonderful Hispanic market/restaurant La Perla, but these are all in the Township outside city limits. There are plenty corner "party stores" which sell a limited selection of foods. There is also at least one Family Dollar Store which carries canned goods, boxed cereal, and the like.

So, while I agree with the statement that we all should eat more healthy foods, the fact of the matter is that in some communities fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are harder to come by than in other areas. In the more affluent areas, like Stevensville, some of us (and I am guilty as charged) still fall to the temptation of buying junk food rather than more wholesome foods.

And frankly, I think the letter writer's mention of Twinkies is probably an embellishment.

The letter to the editor which got me going this morning can be found at:

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/03/opinion/letters/5058068.txt

Food Bank Gives Aid to Storm Victims

Brayden Thurston, 2, wore a big grin as he toddled behind his mother in line for food.

That's because this would be his first meal in days that didn't consist of cold hot dogs, said his mother Jessica Thurston.

The Thurstons were among hundreds who finally received help days after a Sunday wind storm knocked out electrical power and destroyed their food supplies.

The Thurstons, who live in Triangle Mobile Home Park, were reached by a group of volunteers targeting poverty-stricken neighborhoods with the offering of food.

"It's going to help," Jessica Thurston, 20, said with a small smile as she returned to her mother's waiting car with a box of groceries.

Many people who could not afford to refill their pantries after the storm were individually notified of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan handout at Trinity Lutheran Church Friday morning.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110604/NEWS01/106040314/Food-bank-gives-storm-victims

10 years of Grand Rapids' drug needle exchange program: Why backers say it works

On a recent Thursday evening, a heroin addict stepped through a Heartside neighborhood door and did what some would have thought impossible in West Michigan.

He legally traded his dirty needles for a free batch of new syringes, a simple swap experts say reduces the spread of AIDS, hepatitis C and other diseases.

The Clean Works program at 54 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids has been in business just over 10 years, armed with evidence it is paying off.

“It works. It works on many levels,” said Tami VandenBerg, chairwoman of the Grand Rapids Red Project, the nonprofit organization that oversees the program. It is marking its 10th anniversary with a 6:30 p.m. reception Saturday at the Pyramid Scheme in downtown Grand Rapids.

When Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie proposed a needle exchange in 1997, about 25 percent of those living with AIDS or the HIV virus in Kent County contracted it from injection drug use.

That figure has plummeted to about 5 percent, a reduction VandenBerg attributes primarily to needle exchanges. Part of the drop may be due to the death of some those injection users counted in the 1997 numbers.

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/06/10_years_of_grand_rapids_drug.html

Girls on the Run Teaches Confidence in Battle Creek

Since early March, young girls involved in Girls on the Run trained and prepared not only for Thursday night's 5K run through Binder Park Zoo, but for life in general.

"It basically empowers girls with a greater sense of self-awareness and achievement, a sense of community and just becoming a strong, confident young woman," council director Carrie Wilson said.

The race ended with high-fives, camera flashes and smiles from participants and spectators alike. For first-year coach of the St. Joe team, Jodee Cape, it was easy to see how much the girls have enjoyed their journey.

"The girls absolutely love it," Cape said. "On our last day, we told them, 'Tuesday is the party and Thursday is the run,' and they were all really bummed out because they just enjoyed it so much."

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/106030309/Running-purpose

Allegan County Volunteer Medical Corps starts with free clinic

For a few hours on Saturday, ... Fennville High School was a free medical clinic.

That brief transformation was due to an Allegan County United Way effort to create a Volunteer Medical Corps to serve the underinsured, something organizers believe is the first of its kind in the state.

Using a $49,000 Volunteer Michigan grant, the largest of seven awarded throughout the state, the United Way purchased electronic medical records software, laptop computers and iPads and four portable exam tables in the lead-up to organizing the one-day free clinic.

United Way volunteer coordinator Karen Hancock-Owen said 32 individuals were given medical treatments between the clinic’s 9 a.m.-to-5 a.m. hours, though many more received ancillary services for needs such as family planning and mental health. The effort’s 76 volunteers were prepared to provide services for as many as 100 patients.

“It went wonderfully,” Hancock-Owen said. “People came in throughout the day.”

She said that in some cases, the clinic was able to provide help for more immediate problems.

“One person found out they had pneumonia; we were able to set them up with medication,” Hancock-Owen said. The student concession area by the school gym served as a pharmacy for the day, stocked with sample packs of medications provided by area medical establishments. “A family with strep throat came in, and we were able to treat them.”

Allegan County Health Department’s medical director, Dr. Rick Tooker, volunteered his time during the clinic and said it served to educate the patients.

“We’re trying to help them understand when they really “We’re trying to help them understand when they really need to seek medical help,” he said. “It’s a teachable moment.”

www.allegannews.com/articles/2011/05/30/local_news/2.txt