Steepletown Preschool: “A place my kids want to attend.”
The Gibes family has been part of the Steepletown Preschool for three of the past five years. Their oldest son Wesley, who is now in the 4th grade, was part of the 2nd preschool class back in 2014-15. He was followed by Grady last year and Rory this year. Aaron (Dad) shared the following […]
Paying It Forward… For Senior Citizens
Steepletown’s lawncare crew goes through more equipment than your typical company. As part of Steepletown’s JobStart training, most of the young men out there cutting lawns for Seniors in the Grand Rapids community have very little if any experience with this equipment. As a result, the learning curve that is based on experience and time […]
Neighborhood Gardens
Earlier this winter in the midst of the polar vortex, Steepletown was thinking ahead to warmer days! A small grant proposal was submitted to the City of Grand Rapids for its Neighborhood Matching Fund to build 25 raised-bed gardens and supply plants and garden equipment to 25 households. The primary purpose of this project is […]
Covenant House Michigan Partnership
Steepletown’s Kitchen Sage is partnering with Covenant House Michigan – Grand Rapids campus to manage their food services at its recently opened “house” for homeless, at risk and run-a-way youth located on Antoine SW near Division Avenue. Kitchen Sage will take the lead in assuring that meals at Covenant House supports the health and well-being […]
Meet Our New Operations Director
My principles, beliefs and practices to create social change for all racial, ethnic, gender and economic groups were fashioned at an early age. As I engage with my community, I believe that we all can learn and grow. Understanding that many do not have a voice for self-advocacy or self-efficacy; I discovered that disrupting unhealthy […]
Taste the West Side
Every Door Direct
In writing about the 25 years of Steepletown’s history, it was interesting to note that for the first half of Steepletown’s existence, we were focused almost exclusively on addressing the needs of those who live on the lower West Side. Many efforts continue to serve those in this neighborhood, whether it be lawncare and snow […]
Meatless Fridays and Loving Our Neighbor
As Catholics prepare to embark on another Lenten journey, our minds quickly race to meatless Fridays and what we are going to give up for Lent. These Lenten traditions have their origins in the spiritual practice of fasting, which certainly is intended to help us redirect our attention to God and thus fulfill the greatest […]
When “small change” makes a huge difference!
Ever have a coin jar where you throw the loose change from pants pockets, purses, and your vehicle’s console? I have. I am always amazed when I start to roll the coins as to how much money I have managed to save without even really trying. Steepletown had that opportunity during the month of November […]
… Yet
Many of our participants come to Steepletown with negative emotions directed towards Mathematics. With that in mind, here at Steepletown, we often approach math with the word “YET.” We may hear negative talk like, “I’m not good at math,” or “I don’t like math.” In those moments we encourage our participants to rephrase those statements, […]