Focus: HOPE Continues to Strive for Equality
Unlike most mundane annual reports, Focus: HOPE’s 2021 Data Report brims with exciting accomplishments, positive numbers, and optimistic news concerning this vibrant nonprofit association.
Building Community SW MI: Pairing Bicycling and Recycling
Do you have a bicycle in your garage that you haven’t ridden in years? To tune it up this spring and ride it again would allow you to enjoy the outdoors and get some exercise.
Kei Ju Farm and Rescue Sanctuary
Kei Ju Farm and Rescue Sanctuary is a family-owned farm offering refuge to goats, chickens, alpacas, donkeys, horses, peacocks, pigs, and more on 11 acres near Petoskey.
Great Lakes Center for the Arts
In 2018, the Northern Michigan community of Bay Harbor welcomed the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, a cultural and social performance hub now noted among nationally recognized arts organizations.
Guardian Gals, Inc.
Nearly 20 years ago, Guardian Gals, Inc. founder Abby Hamilton recognized the need for a program to engage women from early adolescence to young adulthood in activities that promote healthy hearts and lives. More specifically, its mission states, “to actively engage girls and women to ignite positive personal growth and connection.”
MomsBloom
MomsBloom offers myriad in-home services, ranging from meal prep to emotional support and companionship to care for additional siblings. People who have taken advantage of MomsBloom services refer to the program as the “extended family of the 21st century.”
Kalamazoo Cat Cafe
The Kalamazoo Cat Café and Rescue opened its doors in 2017. Café director Abbey Thompson was already spearheading local adoption events when she happened to visit Catmosphere Cat Café in Sydney during a post-grad school trip to Australia. It was this experience that inspired her to further action.
Van Hoosen Museum
Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen, a notable former owner of the Van Hoosen Farm, is a great example deserving of such recognition. A world-renowned surgeon in the late 1800s, Van Hoosen overcame significant challenges and criticism before launching her private practice – and she confronted similar challenges throughout her career.
Audrey Wiggins’ Legacy and the Future of Medicine
Audrey Ann Wiggins led such an impactful, albeit brief, life that her parents decided to start an organization in her name to provide hope, love, and normalcy in support of medically fragile children and their families.
Leelanau Outdoor Center
The benefits of leading a comprehensive program like Leelanau Outdoor Center manifests itself perhaps most prominently in the way kids come out of their protective shells. They learn to take risks, make friends, and be less concerned about perceived failures; it’s a real confidence builder.