Kalamazoo's Gryphon Place turns 40: Agency known for suicide prevention offers much more

Kalamazoo's Gryphon Place was founded in 1970 as a substance abuse prevention drop-in center, but has evolved into much more. In that era, call center workers fielded 3,000 or 4,000 calls a year. By comparison, the 211/HELP line received 64,455 calls between October 2008 and September 2009, and is projected to handle 91,000 this year.

The organization has expanded from simply substance abuse and suicide prevention to a "one-stop reference guide for people with a range of health or human services needs."

Like other community agencies, Gryphon Place has been hard hit by the economic downturn, according to Pell. Local funding has fallen by $100,00, according to the agency’s 2009 annual report, at a time when the need for services has increased.

Though suicide-related calls have remained steady, calls about basic needs, such as people seeking help with utility shut-offs, evictions, foreclosures, hunger and homelessness, increased by 10 percent two years ago, by 11 percent last year, and 10 percent this year.

The high numbers, says Pell, reflect many “newly poor” in the community, people who always had jobs, homes and food until recently, but now find themselves in dire financial trouble. These people, he said, “don’t understand the system, they’re embarrassed and demoralized, and they don’t like asking for help.”

For people in poverty, there is no "map" or "guide" of how reach or access services. Many people rely on service referral organizations such as Gryphon Place to direct them to the correct organizations. Without them, they would be forced to call and/or visit every organization until they filled the right need. To say that this service is crucial would be an understatement.

Happy 40th birthday Gryphon place!

Read the Full Article: http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/08/kalamazoos_gryphon_place_turns.html

Study shows every 10 public transit jobs creates six more jobs in Michigan economy

The new economic modeling study provided by the Michigan Department of Transportation shows that for every 10 jobs created in the public transit sector, six additional jobs are created in the rest of the economy.

This study is being used in Grand Rapids as a component of the 20-year improvement plan that will bring streetcars, speedy high-tech buses and routes that run more often until midnight and on Sundays.

Not only is public transportation essential for those who work low-wage jobs, but it has been increasingly desirable by younger populations who want to live and work in urban environments. Other key points from the study include:

• Statewide, money that people saved by taking the bus added $264.4 million to Michigan's economy. In Grand Rapids, the $31 million that The Rapid spends to operate its systems creates $43 million in "social benefits" because riders spent their savings on other things. That includes $17 million in work-related spending, $3.8 million in health-care-related spending, $8 million in retail-related spending, and $9.9 million in education-related spending.
• Statewide, transit operations sustained 9,200 jobs in 2009 and contributed $1 billion to the economy.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/08/study_shows_every_10_public_tr.html

Million Father March Reaches Benton Harbor on First Day of School

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CALLING FATHERS! Join the “Take your Child to the First Day of School” Campaign

The Black Star Project is sponsoring the Million Father March 2010 on the first day of school in nearly 300 cities across America, including Benton Harbor, according to local resident Samantha Maben, who is coordinating the March in the Twin Cities area.

Benton Harbor schools will begin its first day of school on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, along with other area schools. This can become a special day that fathers and men use to make a commitment to their children, families, communities and country with their dynamic presence at a school...

... Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, score higher on tests, enjoy school more and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.

bentonspiritnews.com/calling-fathers-join-the-take-your-child-to-the-first-day-of-school-cam-p3585-1.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=1&mad=No

Ingham County Sees Surge in Food Pantry Families

Unemployment across the Lansing area rose from June to July, and local food banks are feeling it.

"We are averaging 125 to 130 new families per month who have never had to come for food before, and some of them were (previously) donors," said Mary Meirndorf, director of the Ingham County Food Bank, which manages 20 pantries in the Lansing, East Lansing, Haslett and Okemos areas.

The Ingham County Food Bank only recently started to track first timers, so there's no way of knowing how that compares with a year ago, Meirndorf said.

Okemos Community Church is one of the pantries that works with the Ingham County Food Bank.

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100827/NEWS01/8270325/Continuing-poor-economy-keeping-Lansing-area-food-banks-busy

Pastor-entrepreneur builds Edison neighborhood business center

In Kalamazoo's Edison Neighborhood, new ideas are coming together for ways to spur economic development. Pastor Carrie Bertrand's Believers Business Center is one such idea to revive the neighborhood and provide opportunities for businesses and employment.

The believers Business Center would host seven proposed businesses and provide a place for the community to come together and for people to make business connections and help other businesses grow. From Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Magazine:

Eventually, the 22,000-square-foot building at 1301 Cameron St. will be the home of a business incubator, a 4,700-square-foot expo and event center, an office share space, conference rooms, classrooms, a health and wellness center and more.

Rental rates are intentionally set low to make the space affordable. Paws Advocacy Network, a nonprofit that helps low-income pet owners feed their animals, has already set up business there.

Twenty five people have signed up to be members of the business center. For $99 a year members have access to the site and its networking capabilities promoted through connection meetings each month. Classes begin in September.

Bertrand's already reaching out to folks in the neighborhood. Garage sales that bring in a little revenue are also just as much about meeting the neighbors, who are among the people she's hoping to reach.

Edison, the largest of Kalamazoo's neighborhoods by population also has the highest unemployment, and Bertrand's mission is to offer training and advice that can restore hope in people battered by today's economic conditions.

Read the full article: http://swmichigan.secondwavemedia.com/features/believers0826.aspx

Unemployment hits single mothers, minority women hardest

A recent federal report demonstrated that single mothers and minority women have been hit hardest by recent unemployment. According to its report, unemployment for single mothers jumped to 13.4 percent in July from 12.1 percent in June and unemployment among African-American women climbed from 11.8 percent in June to 12.9 percent in July. In contrast, the national unemployment rate is 9.5 and the unemployment rate for black men dropped from 17.4 percent to 16.7 percent.

For Hispanic women, the unemployment rate rose from 1.1 percent to 12.1 percent in July while for Hispanic men the rate fell from 11.3 percent in June to 10.2 percent in July.

The condition of women could significantly worsen due to government cutbacks and a lack of resources made available by charities.

It's possible that the decline in the employment rate for men could be lower in July versus June because of seasonal jobs which require high amounts of manual labor. Even though women have a lower unemployment rate overall (with the exception being Hispanic women), they also on average earn less than men nationally and often have to raise families on their own.

One personal story was highlighted by the Grand Rapids Press:

Karrie Quay needs no reminder this economy is tough on single mothers.

Eight months ago, Quay took leave from her job as manager of a fast food chain near Flint to tend to her dying mother in Montcalm County.

Two months later, her employer informed her they could no longer hold the job open. Two months after that, her mother and "best friend" died from cancer after lapsing into a coma.

Quay, 27, got a job on a farm near Sparta. The 130-pound Quay earned anywhere from $20 to $50 a day pitching 70-pound hay bales onto a wagon. The mother to two was so sore the first week, "I could barely move."

But after wearing out her welcome at her sister's house and that of a friend, she was out of options. Earlier this month, she and her daughters, Ariana, 9, and Lillian, 6, moved into the family shelter at Mel Trotter Ministries.

"The only thing that keeps me going is my kids, and I told my mother I would never give up," Quay said.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/08/unemployment_hits_single_mothe.html

Kalamazoo Literacy Council hires new director

The Kalamazoo Literacy Council has a full-time director whose goal is to strengthen adult literacy services in Kalamazoo County.

Michael Evans, 41, was named Director of Literacy Services earlier this month and is charged with bringing area adult literacy programs together to better coordinate services for adults wanting to learn how to read or improve their literacy skills. He also plans to raise awareness of adult literacy issues in the community and gather more support to this cause.

“I look forward to expanding the reach of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council in the community,” Evans said. “There are thousands of adults in the county who need help in improving their literacy skills to better prepare them for the workplace or to live more independently.”

The new position is the result of a collaboration between the Council and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan to strengthen the adult literacy services provided in the area. The Council has also established an office in the Goodwill Industries building at 420 E. Alcott Street to provide a central location for its services and to coordinate activities with Goodwill’s Family Literacy Program. The collaboration is funded in part by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

“Hiring a director is the next step to broadening and improving literacy education for adults in Kalamazoo County,” Board President Paula Aldridge said. “We are confident that Michael will move the Council forward in its plans.”

Before coming to the Council, Evans worked for 14 years in the nonprofit sector in Battle Creek with several organizations including Community Inclusive Recreation, Summit Pointe, New Level Sports among others. He was Executive Director of Heritage Battle Creek and the Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek and served on many statewide boards including the Michigan Humanities Council, the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, and the Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies. Prior to entering the nonprofit sector, he was a staff writer for the Kalamazoo Gazette. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Western Michigan University where he majored in English and Communications.

The Kalamazoo Literacy Council has been helping adults learn to read since 1974. For more than 36 years it has operated as a volunteer organization, providing free tutor training in the Laubach Method, one-on-one services to adults, and literacy education materials.

Fulfilling the Council’s mission of having a fully literate community is more critical now than ever. In Kalamazoo County, over 31,000 people or 13% cannot read a simple story to a child, an intersection on a map, a prescription label, or total purchases from an order form. Additionally, children whose parents are functionally illiterate are twice as likely as their peers to be functionally illiterate. Helping adults improve their basic literacy skills has a direct and measurable impact on both the education and quality of life of their children. Moreover, for families to take full advantage of the Kalamazoo Promise or more confidently support their children’s education, they must be able to model reading and literacy in the home. Parent’s who value their own educational attainment make a great difference in their children’s success. That is why the Council is committed to quality literacy education to eliminate these problems and enhance the lives of adults through programs that increase reading, writing and spelling skills.

For more information about the Council, please call (269) 382-0490 EXT. 222 or visit the organization’s website at www.kalamazooliteracy.org.

St. Joseph County United Way Moves into New Facilities

"The St. Joseph County United Way moved to new offices in Centreville, and celebrated with a ribbon cutting (last week).

United Way Executive Director Kelly Hostetler turned the event into an open house for the new facility by inviting agencies which receive funding through United Way and the community that supports the efforts.

Mendon Boy Scout Troop 427 and Venture Crew color guard opened the celebration. Aaron Moore of the Sturgis Police Department gave a K-9 presentation with German shepard, Dasti."

www.sturgisjournal.com/news/x2023281294/United-Way-kicks-off-season-with-new-location

90 Reasons that Segregating Poor Children into Poor Schools Does Not Help Their Academic Achievement

Recently, the Michigan Department of Education released a list of the 92 schools in Michigan which have had the lowest academic achievement of all schools in the state over the past several years. 90 of these schools have more than the state average percentage of free/reduced lunch children. These schools are at-risk in that the federal No Child Left Behind law requires they be closed, restructured, firing the principal and most of the staff, etc.

Tough stuff. Perhaps, some would argue tough love. We need to have high expectations for all children in all of our schools in Michigan. Teachers and principals, counselors and social workers, central office administrators and school board members need to be held accountable. I would not argue that point and I don't think too many would argue that point. (Did I mention parents or guardians? I should have.)

On the other hand, we need also to bring to light some of the problems that these schools have. They are predominantly poor schools in poor areas of our state and serve predominantly poor children.

Here are some statistics that bring this point home. The data is from the fall 2009 student count data that is maintained by CEPI (the Center for Educational Performance Information) in Lansing:

Total schools in Michigan: 3,751

Number of students in those schools: 1,632,622

Number of students eligible for free/reduced price lunch: 744,786

State wide percentage of students eligible for free/reduced: 45.87%

Number of schools who were identified as worst performers: 92

Number of students who attended the 92 schools in fall 2009: 67,108

Number of students in those 92 schools eligible for free/reduced price lunch: 50,313

Number of the 92 schools with higher than state average free/reduced eligibility: 90 (or 97.83% of the 92 schools)

Percentage of students in the 92 schools eligible for free/reduced price lunch: 74.97%

Number of schools not identified in the group of 92: 3,659

Number of students who attended school in the 3,659 schools: 1,556,514

Number of students in the 3,659 schools eligible for free/reduced price lunch: 694,473

Percentage of students in 3,659 schools eligible for free/reduced price lunch: 44.62%

Percentage of schools in the 3,659 with more than state average of free/reduced price lunch: 54.3%

True, there are schools that do quite well on standard test scores that are schools predominantly made up of poor children. But as the statistics show, the odds are that much more difficult for these children to succeed when they are segregated from their middle and upper class peers.

The 92 schools should be held accountable for their poor performances. However, who is going to hold accountable the State of Michigan, Michigan Department of Education, the State legislature and Governor, school boards and central office administrators throughout the state? (Don't forget the parents and guardians.)

The 45.87% of our children in Michigan who are eligible for free/reduced price lunch deserve to know.

My point is this. We do not help our poor children by segregating them in poor schools.

As the former Budget Director for the Grand Rapids Schools, I always used an example:

Sigsbee Elementary in Grand Rapids used to have more than 90% of its children who qualified for free/reduced price lunch. Sigsbee also had terrible results on MEAP scores. One of the lowest in the city.

Just a little over one mile down the road was an elementary school called, I kid you not, Wealthy Elementary. Wealthy is in East Grand Rapids. Wealthy has always had very few poor children and some of the highest MEAP test scores in Michigan.

Michigan Works Scrambles & Finds Summer Employment for Berrien County Youth

"With state and federal funding evaporating, the people at Michigan Works in March expected to place only 80 young people in its Summer Youth Employment Program. Most years they had been able to employ 200 workers. In 2009 they placed more than 800 in jobs with federal stimulus dollars.

"We had consistent funding for six years," said Candace Elders, director of communications for the local Michigan Works Association branch, the job placement and training program serving Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties.

But with an economy that continues to struggle and dwindling government revenue, that pool had vanished.

That left Michigan Works scrambling to find new funding sources to get area youths out of the house, off the streets and into jobs. They tapped into nine funding sources and succeeded in placing 350 youth with 75 companies and organizations, including the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Berrien County Department of Human Services, Michigan Rehabilitation Services and Harbor Shores."

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/08/14/local_news/1717016.txt