“The goal of it is to bridge the gap by creating greater access for people of color,” said BlackWellness Network Founder Valarie Cunningham, referring to the gap she has discerned between the level of ongoing care provided to African-Americans vs. the experience of White patients.
Kalamazoo County
With its new Behavioral Health Care and Access Center, Integrated Services of Kalamazoo builds a safety net for those with mental health issues.
Demand is high for mental health services across many agencies in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, and many peer supporters are ground zero — serving communities that are marginalized, diverse, and in high need.
The demand for mental health providers has always outpaced supply. This has only gotten worse over the past few years.
The ‘Burg Days of Summer is a brand new summer series planned for the Village of Vicksburg, and tonight at 5:30 p.m. is the kick-off for the event. The festival promises live music in the streets, family-friendly activities, food trucks, and an opportunity to positively impact a local non-profit.
June is recognized as Pride Month, a time when people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, and racial identities have a safe place to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride. Watershed Voice has compiled a list of resources for local, summer Pride events for Southwest Michigan.
What type of support does a child need to recover from the trauma of being shot? A Kalamazoo mother is on a lonely search for that answer.
Watershed Voice Executive Editor & Publisher Alek Haak-Frost explains why what Watershed Voice is, is less important than who Watershed Voice is, when contemplating whether to donate and/or subscribe during our Spring Member Drive.
St. Joseph County Sheriff Mark Lillywhite was sentenced to 12 months probation, ordered to pay more than $1,000 in fines, and will have his concealed pistol permit revoked after pleading guilty Monday in Kalamazoo County Eighth District Court to operating while intoxicated, and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence.
Peek into the joyful chaos of a Sibshop, and you might think you’re seeing a playgroup where the participants all happen to be siblings of children with disabilities. Sibshops aren’t therapy, and there’s no curriculum; the goals are simply to give participants the opportunity to connect, share their experiences, ask questions, and offer advice.
Today, there are more than 550 Sibshops in 15 countries — including one at Advocacy Services for Kids (ASK) Family Services in Kalamazoo.
Skyridge Church of the Brethren in Kalamazoo will be celebrating Earth Day this Saturday by hosting “One Earth, One Chance;” a workshop and discussion on environmental sustainability and social justice in the surrounding communities. The event will be led by grassroots activist David Radcliff of the Virginia-based New Community Project (NCP), and will be held April 22 from 1-3 p.m.
About 23 years ago, Jim Henry and four other Kalamazoo-area professionals launched the Southwest Michigan Child Trauma Assessment Center at Western Michigan University. At the time, few people knew how traumatic experiences can negatively affect the developing brain of a child. But the founders of CTAC did. And the center they created to assess traumatized children has not only become the model for similar centers across Michigan and in Colorado, but also has effected change in the state’s child-welfare system and beyond.
The Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative, through its Mental Wellness Project, is profiling six approaches that address the issue through its new solutions-focused reporting series, A Way Through: Strategies for Youth Mental Health.
Watershed Voice will be celebrating its three-year anniversary on Saturday, a feat that was hard earned and accomplished through the contributions of many. With that in mind, we reached out to several of those valued contributors for their thoughts on Watershed Voice some 1,094 days after its launch on April 8, 2020.
Alek’s childhood friend and standup comedian Rio Riojas stops by Keep Your Voice Down to discuss his recent foray into the world of standup comedy and his upcoming show in Kalamazoo (Wednesday, March 22 at Final Gravity Brewing Company, 8 p.m.). The Bay City native and East Lansing resident tells Doug and Alek about how he got started, how his act has evolved over the last year, his comedic style, how becoming a father has influenced the way he performs onstage, and why you shouldn’t bring your kids to see his act.
After a six-month comprehensive search, Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF) has named Dr. Grace Lubwama as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. She will begin her new position with KZCF in July 2023.
Watershed Voice columnist Charles Thomas writes, “Because ChatGPT can write essays, I thought it would be interesting to ask it to write a couple of essays for Watershed Voice about recent issues we’ve reported on. (The following) is an edited transcript of my conversation with ChatGPT, along with ChatGPT’s first work for Watershed Voice.”
St. Joseph County Sheriff Mark Lillywhite was arrested in the early morning hours of Sunday, February 26 following a two-vehicle crash in Schoolcraft Township, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office. Lillywhite is expected to be arraigned on charges of operating while intoxicated and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.