Grand Rapids Community Foundation

Guest Post: Get Out There and Hug a Tree Today!

April 27^th, 2012

Guest post from Kate Luckert Schmid,Community Foundation Program Director

Arbor Day is the perfect time to stop and take notice of the tremendous value trees have on our community.  While the beauty of a tree is evident, only recently has research begun to prove the lifetime benefits of a tree on our environment, our health, and our economy.   In fact, recent estimates have suggested that the current 35% tree canopy in the City of Grand Rapids provides over $372,000,000 in benefits from reduced storm water runoff and increased air quality alone. 

The Community Foundation is excited to support local effort to increase our urban tree canopy to 40% - requiring at least another 185,000 trees to be planted and cared for.  In order to have a thriving urban forest we are going to need extensive community support and action.  Since only about 5% of the available planting spots are on property owned by the City, the majority of trees will need to be planted on private property.  This is where you and I come in! 

We are starting with a two year grant to the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks which will afford them the opportunity to launch the Urban Forest Project – a multi-faceted effort to provide opportunities for people of all ages to get engaged in growing our urban canopy.  The Urban Forest Project is developing a web resource center for all things tree-related, a crowd-sourced tree inventory, and multiple events to encourage tree planting and care.  We encourage you to think about ways to involve others you are connected with – maybe your neighbors, classmates, church, or employer. 

Tools and resources to help build the long term vitality of our urban forest are on the way.  So, stay tuned for ways that you can help ensure an even greener Arbor Day in Grand Rapids’ future!

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Hey Grand Rapidians! We need to love ourselves more!

June 30^th, 2011

I have so much I want to write about but I have so little time! However, I want to take a moment to comment about the great column that Tommy Allen wrote in today's (June 30, 2011) edition of Rapid Growth. His weekly "G-Sync" column is always thoughtful, engaging and sometimes edgy - and that is good! Today's column is titled, "Not the Visiting Kind" and you can link to it here. I too have had the same experience that Tommy had when he was visiting another city on the east coast recently.

I do believe that we in West Michigan and more specifically in Grand Rapids need to love ourselves more! As Tommy so aptly notes: ". . . while we have worked to create a community that we want to live in, we seem to be obsessed with crafting our image in the shadow of another. . . maybe we need to stop trying to make people love us and simply learn to love ourselves a bit more." Yes indeed!

Grand Rapids continues to evolve into an even more attractive city to visit and live in! As the Grand Rapids Community Foundation's vision statement states: "We envision a magnetic, interconnected West Michigan community." Let the people from more renown cities love their cities and they will love us too because we love our city without having to do cartwheels to get the attention from the rest of the world!

I used to start meetings for a committee I chaired for a national association a few years back in Washington, D.C. by saying: "Greetings from the center of the universe . . . Grand Rapids, Michigan!" And I wasn't kidding! (This was before Guy Bazzini named the corner of Diamond and Lake Dr."The Center of the Universe".)

There is a certain connection that we have to people and/or places we visit or in which we reside that cannot be measured by any study and research! It's that first few seconds when you meet someone for the first time as Malcolm Gladwell writes in the book, Blink. He writes on his website: "There's a wonderful phrase in psychology--"the power of thin slicing"--which says that as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience."

Whether or not this "rapid cognition" is always valid, there is a sense or "vibe" that I do get when I visit a place new to me or a restaurant or a person. I may be wrong sometimes (hard to believe I know!) but Tommy is right on! No need to feel any less about this great place - we have so many great things going on! We need to continue "to build" the best Grand Rapids embracing difference and welcoming one and all to share in living in one of the finest places on this planet!

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#grcollegebound

June 17^th, 2011

For those who follow Twitter you know that the hash tag connected to a phrase or word is an identifier for collecting like "tweets" for a particular topic. For those who haven't experienced Twitter, well now you have information you didn't have before! :- ) We used this identifier this past Wednesday on Twitter reporting on details from the press conference we hosted and then throughout the day! The impact of what is behind the #grcollegebound will definitely be game changing! That is how I view an effort that our staff, Cris Kooyer and Ruth Bishop, have been planning hand-in-hand with key staff at the Grand Rapids Public Schools for more than two years. This past Wednesday Mike Nassar, principal at Harrison Park School, Bernard Taylor, superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and I outlined an effort that we all plan will make a significant difference in the lives of children and their families. We are calling it the "Partnership Pipeline" which aptly describes the partnership between the district and the Grand Rapids Community Foundation with some aspects that also involve many other funders, the county, and a large number of nonprofit organizations. In future blogs I'll describe these relationships more clearly. BUT essentially, the partnership is meant to ensure that a pre-K through 12th grade school culture is supported that promotes post-secondary learning for all students. Some detail: On Monday June 13th the Foundation board of trustees approved the first $250,000 to launch the partnership building on a college-going culture for students at Grand Rapids Public Schools' Harrison Park School. Ultimately we plan to expand this programming into Westwood Middle School and then increase our funding to include Union High School. This "feeder system" will help foster an academic and social climate at the grade school that will fully support education beyond graduation for every child. The Foundation is investing an estimated $4.5M that will go to the schools within the Union High School feeder system over the next 10 years. Plans include the hiring of a College Pathway Coordinator, a math coach and a literacy coach. In addition, grant funds, to the tune of $1.5M, will provide summer and after school learning opportunities for students spread out over the next 10 years. But that's not all! This partnership also includes a very special college scholarship component. Beginning with the 4th grade class this September the Foundation plans to provide about $3M per year on college scholarships or support for a higher education program to students who move through the program from start to finish graduating from Union High School. With the assistance of our program and various supports these students will receive last dollar scholarships! These students will become this community's Challenge Scholars! In part, Harrison Park School was selected by our staff and the key staff from the school district because it offers on-site health and human services to students and families through the Kent School Services Network (KSSN) which operates in many schools in various districts. Through the Kent Intermediate School District, the Kent County Family and Children's Coordinating Council and many nonprofit organizations and funders, the KSSN is a great support to relieve families of many stressors in their lives giving students the opportunity to come to school ready to learn! We have worked alongside many to create and fund this tremendous resource and have granted more than $2M to the KSSN program since 2006! Further, Harrison Park School is a Meijer Good School a program generously funded by the Meijer Foundation and operated by the Community Foundation. In case you haven't gotten the message yet, education of our youth is a very big deal to the Community Foundation ultimately leading to an educated work force and keeping these young professionals compelling reasons to return to Grand Rapids to live and work! This is the best economic development strategy around! Over the past 10 years the Community Foundation has invested nearly $10M in funding for community-wide education strategies. We aren't new to the business of education. In fact, we have been giving scholarships to area students since the 1940's! I'll write more about this exciting effort in future blogs! The press release announces the Partnership and the Challenge Scholars!

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Hope for the future

January 19^th, 2009

I am growing so weary of having a tag placed on me. I was told several years ago by a local "Spin Doctor" who believes he is a public relations expert that describing myself as an Independent was seen in Grand Rapids as being a Democrat. He thought it was funny while I thought it demonstrated his stupidity. How very parochial - how very arrogant - how very, very wrong. (Apologies for the Spin Doctor reference to Roberta King GRCF VP for PR and Marketing and PR & Marketing Specialist Amanda St. Pierre who both represent the most positive aspects of PR, Communications and Marketing! Both are consummate public relations professionals.)

It is on this glorious day we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. anticipating the inauguration of this nation's first African American president - President Barack Obama. Today I am proud to be the age I am - 57 years old with the experience, personal faith, and knowledge to make me strong in both professionally and personally. My defining years were the 1960's and I was most influenced by the civil rights movement as a teenager.

Yes I grew up in an affluent Detroit suburb but no, I did not have a privileged life. I was raised by two down-to-earth parents who were more concerned that I was too shy versus a kid that was a revolutionary. I silently took the time to learn about the world that was beyond the borders of Grosse Pointe. I was not necessarily popular in high school and was part of a class that claimed to number more than 1,000 students and it was hard to be heard above the multitudes! I volunteered to tutor at an inner city elementary school, I worked summers and evenings at The Detroit News alongside kids from across the metro Detroit area, and I read everything I could get my hands regarding social change, human services, community organization and righting the wrongs of oppression and segregation. The riots of 1967 taught me that the border between Detroit and Grosse Pointe was artificial yet so very impenetrable.

As I sit here 40+ years later writing this blog entry, I am mindful that I write it as the President of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation - not Diana Sieger private citizen. There are reasons I am in this position today. I was determined at 21 years old that I was going to do something in my life that had tremendous meaning and that would reach out to help make lives better. It is no surprise that I am at this place in my life and I know how fortunate I truly am. Leading this foundation is a privilege and not something I take for granted.

Martin Luther King, Jr. did make an impression on me as did others who were attempting to right the wrongs that many Americans felt. President Barack Obama represents the hope for a future that will bring people together in a peaceful manner trying to build consensus on things that matter and not build thick walls. He also knows that total agreement on all things of what is the best for our country - our communities is unlikely and how we work things out is important.

Thank you to those who came before President Obama who were instrumental in helping him achieve the position of President. Mayor George Heartwell noted many of those local champions - Champions of Diversity - in his State of the City address on Saturday, January 17th: Maurillia (Molly) Blakely, Marshall Chavez, Dr. Julius Franks (posthumously), Lillian Gill, June Horowitz, Alphonse Lewis, Hon. Lyman Parks, Mary Roberts, Vernis Schad, Dr. Ella Sims, Francisco Vega, and Roger Williams.

Thank you to all of you - you are brave heroes and you paved the way.

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The Spirit of Grand Rapids - What's the Future - from 1989 to 2008!

July 28^th, 2008

It has been much too long since I wrote a blog entry. It has been a busy, busy month of July! So much for the summer being slower. Buying and renovating a building can certainly sparkle up these summer months!

As I have been cleaning out files once again, which is now a weekly activity, I literally came upon an article I wrote nearly 20 years ago published in the Grand Rapids Magazine in the May 1989 issue. The title of the article was "The Spirit of Grand Rapids, What's the Future". In this article I asked the question about our preparedness for the choices for our community's future as our community's population was predicted to eclipse the city of Detroit's by the 21st century.

Here's an excerpt:

"How are we prepared? Are we indeed prepared? Are we frozen in a state of disbelief or charging ahead to welcome the challenges?

It has been my observation [back in 1989] that we are on the brink of something indescribable yet positive. We are essentially in gear with our foot still on the clutch. The cars around us are zooming by but are slowing to gaze at our uniqueness and special qualities."

Not bad for a young woman who had just 18 months under her belt leading this Foundation! This was before we launched Perspective 21! which has led to a phenomenal cadre of prevention services for children and families coordinated through the Kent County Family and Children's Coordinating Council. This was before we took hold of our community leadership role, our role in offering a variety of donor services to our community and before GRCF was far more visible in the area!

I offered that we have choices to make as a community as to how we could proceed in looking at what the year 2025 would hold for us. I noted, "This is not about clinging to an arrogant civic pride which proves to be divisive in nature. It is a description of choices we have a community moving forward to the year 2000."

I laid out two scenarios for the year 2025. One scenario described a vibrant city. "The skyline is distinctive - high-rise office buildings, condominiums and apartments abound in concert with architecture of another century. Getting around seems effortless - streets are in good repair and technology has given us sophisticated transportation systems. Residential areas are pleasant - the central city is bustling.

Headlines connote a caring and compassionate community with reaffirmation in an attitude which was articulated in the 1980s on social responsibility. Social problems, while still in the fore, seemingly are more solvable thanks to a citizenry which places value in involvement and building effective coalitions. Cooperation in 2025 is not just an idealistic concept; it became a straight forward necessity in the 1990s as the financial base for essential services was eroding."

Wow! We've actually come a long way since 1989 looking at the community today in 2008 but do have to be diligent go to reach the lofty hopes described in the positive scenario for 2025. (Note that road repair is an issue that the city, county and state along with the feds are trying to remedy!)

Philanthropy is integral for strengthening this community and we've seen it time and time again as capital efforts have led to the development of the Van Andel Museum Center, the new Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Van Andel Arena and the expanded convention center now known as DeVos Place. Not to mention the Medical Mile and other health service locations through the emergence of the Van Andel Institute, the MSU School of Medicine and all the hospitals throughout the area providing the capacity for world class health care making GR a regional health care destination!

In my next entry I'll comment on the "negative" scenario for 2025 and how we can all make sure that this does not come to pass! I'll keep cleaning my files - you never know what gems I'll find!

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