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Why Alice Jasper is on a mission to lead people of color into the outdoors.

The Black Book Exchange Box project encourages reading.

A local mom is creating safer beauty products for tweens and teens.

Tom Werkman shares his love of fishing with other anglers.

Carol Moore purchased the historic church and is leading it through a transformation.

Gilles Renusson, French Agricultural Merit award winner, discovers profession in boarding school.

Grand Valley State University is gaining a fresh perspective with new President Philomena V. Mantella.

Self-described “huge comic books fan and toy collector” Jeff Moore launched the venture of his dreams in Rockford.

A pair of Calvin College grads and their kids have moved back to West Michigan with an Airstream trailer and a vision in tow.

For David Leslie, leaving his hometown of Grand Rapids in the 1990s began a 25-year journey west and back. He’s a furniture craftsman, owner of The Maker’s Bench, but that wasn’t what he set out to do intentionally.

A doodle drawn out of frustration led local artist and writer Peter Welmerink to launch StickonStump, a simple cartoon figure who waxes motivational.

Social justice and passion have always been a part of Janay Brower’s work. Before starting Public Thread, she worked for the city of Grand Rapids and the Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, doing systems change and public policy work. But despite the work she was doing, Brower wanted to find a way to foster deeper systemic change.

Nakajabu Sims’ probation officer told him that he was the poster child to see if 70x7 Life Recovery really works. Turns out, the nonprofit does its job well.

Say hello to the winter adventure program designed to get little girls outside to brighten the colder months.

“We’ve been here six and a half years. It’s time to put an expiration date on it and move on,” said Kim Carignan, 54, a resident of Grand Rapids’ northeast side. Carignan, who has lived in Detroit, Chicago, New York and Naples, Florida, said she and her husband haven’t been able to make the friendships they’d hoped for in West Michigan, something she said was easier in the other places she’s lived.

This past June, Parliament the Boutique rebranded as Gemini Handmade after five years on the South Division Avenue for the Arts corridor. Now, the local artisan-based shop has made another big move—to 963 Cherry St. SE.

As temperatures drop and snowstorms await, local nonprofit Dirt City Sanctuary said even though items such as a proper pair of boots should be an essential necessity to surviving winter, many individuals in West Michigan walk the streets without such provisions.

In Mary McKSchmidt’s latest book, “Uncharted Waters: Romance, Adventure, and Advocacy on the Great Lakes,” she’s sailing with her husband on Lake Michigan, taking a view of its eastern edge, when she’s overcome by a nearly spiritual wonder. She’s scanning the shoreline for the spot she stood as a girl — recalling a vibrant springtime that left her in love with the water she sailed.

A new fitness studio, Zeal Aerial Fitness, was welcomed into town on Nov. 9. Founded by Christina VanDam, the studio said it is the first all-inclusive aerial fitness facility to come to Grand Rapids.

As the holiday festivities begin, The Hero Foundation wants to remind the community not every family is lucky enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas presents let alone pay for everyday necessities. Families coping with cancer are not only concerned with the emotional aspects of the disease, but they must deal with the financial side effects of cancer as well.