Insights

• Posted on August 04, 2014 – Posted by: Lori Dykstra

  Hispanic Center Youth Employees on the Job

  It was such a joy driving out to Grand Valley State University's campus and meeting Yibriam and Ashley, two friendly and hardworking individuals in the Hispanic Center of West Michigan's summer youth employment program. Bridget [...]

• Posted on July 24, 2014 – Posted by: Lori Dykstra

  Comprenew's Urban Garden

  Stepping inside Comprenew, I could tell immediately that this was a place of beautfiul unity between care for the environment and care for people. Their technology recycling services offer a unique and practical way to [...]

• Posted on July 22, 2014 – Posted by: Shaun Shira

  Knotty Cocktails

  I recall the March 10, 2014 Grand Rapids Community Foundation Advisory Council meeting like it was yesterday. Among other responsibilities, the Advisory Council is charged with identifying topics for our Knotty Cocktails event series. The [...]

• Posted on July 20, 2014 – Posted by: Lori Dykstra

  The YES Program: Mowing and Growing on the West Side

  I recently had the pleasure of visiting The Other Way Ministries’ Youth Employment Service (YES) Program. I took this out-of-office opportunity to lace up my shoes, slip on my gloves and get to work. It [...]

• Posted on July 17, 2014 – Posted by: Meredith Fennema

  ArtPrize Expands Outreach to Diverse Audiences with Grand Rapids Community Foundation Grant

  Here at Grand Rapids Community Foundation, we talk a lot about diversity and inclusion. As a staff, we participate in several trainings every year around cultural competency. And we recently rolled out our grantee inclusion [...]

• Posted on July 07, 2014 – Posted by: Lori Dykstra

  Bethany Teaches the Value of a Life-Long Education

  It was the second day of a summer of opportunity and I could feel the energy stirring. Students of Bethany Christian Services' summer employment program trickled in and sat around the U-shaped table, respectfully chatty [...]

• Posted on June 26, 2014 – Posted by: Lori Dykstra

  Grants in Action

  Hi there, I am Lori Dykstra, the summer PR & Marketing intern here at Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Welcome to “Our Community Matters,” our new blog! We reconfigured this page so that various staff and [...]

• Posted on June 03, 2014 – Posted by: Meredith Fennema

  Meet Our Grantmakers: Marcia Rapp

  Everyone, meet Marcia Rapp. She's been with Grand Rapids Community Foundation since 1988, and while she would never admit it, she knows the Grand Rapids community incredibly well to say the least. As Vice President, Marcia administers [...]

• Posted on January 31, 2013 – Posted by: Diana Sieger

  Are you a woman of faith?

  My blog postings have been infrequent at best in the past few months and I hope to step it up. This does take discipline and I need to buckle down to take a moment to [...]

• Posted on December 19, 2012 – Posted by: Diana Sieger

  Dreams can come true!

  This morning brought great news that our colleague organization, Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), received a phenomenal stock gift of $500 million from Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook.  This gift will definitely help to [...]

• Posted on June 06, 2012 – Posted by: Laurie Craft

  Changing how we think of homelessness

  At Grand Rapids Community Foundation, we work to create a community that has all of the great qualities that West Michigan has—and to make it better. As an optimist, this is a great place to [...]

• Posted on April 27, 2012 – Posted by: Kate Luckert Schmid

  Get Out There and Hug a Tree Today!

  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 [...]