Equitable Community Development Project

About the project

The Equitable Community Development Project is a solutions-oriented journalism initiative covering community development and quality of life issues in Southwest Michigan, created by the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative. Our reporting will focus on Southwest Michigan organizations, projects, processes and development that uplift equity and on areas where these issues need to be addressed. 

 

Project values

Individuals and families deserve to live in a vibrant, thriving community that fosters entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and economic growth. In Southwest Michigan, many community-based organizations and municipalities have made some strides to create a more inclusive and equitable community development process to ensure every voice is heard and valued.

 

Community development is the work of building neighborhood assets to create healthy places that help residents reach their best health and well-being. 

It touches on…

  • Infrastructure development and place improvement such as roads, schools, and parks
  • Affordable housing
  • Skill enhancement and job opportunities for better livelihood
  • Quality of health services
  • Public safety and policing
  • Local businesses and entrepreneurship
  • Cultural and art institutions and recreation opportunities
  • Policies and advocacy that reduce poverty, low wealth, racism, health, marginalization and other disparities

 

This is a new project built to:

  • LISTEN to Southwest Michigan community members about what assets are needed in the realm of community development that will improve their quality of life
  • LEARN about how we can create more equitable community development processes and about what is working to boost equity
  • REPORT on effective approaches to community development that create an equitable playing field for all community members

 

The Problems We Seek to Address

Gaps remain in the community development process to ensure transparency and authentic engagement with community members. More specifically:

  1. Current decision-making processes lack inclusivity, often excluding marginalized voices—such as people of color, youth, seniors, and grassroots organizations—from key discussions. 
  2. Barriers to engagement, including limited access to technology and transparent conversations, further prevent true community participation.
  3. Systemic and structural challenges, such as bureaucratic red tape and a lack of resources for entrepreneurs of color, hinder progress toward equitable development.
  4. Lack of awareness exists around the role small businesses and entrepreneurs play in the development of neighborhoods and overall economic vitality of a community. 

By reporting on equitable community development programs, projects and processes, we hope to uplift effective approaches to the problems and uncover idle, unhelpful work in this arena.

 

Check Out Our Latest Stories From This Project

“We’re more powerful as a county and can have more of an impact by having all these talented, smart, dedicated people collaborating on these issues,”
At a lively event filled with the familiar faces of the Kalamazoo-area entrepreneurship community, the newly graduated fourth cohort of the Black Entrepreneur Training Academy (BETA) celebrated their achievements.
The massive white and middle-class flight out of the Northside and the neighborhood‘s economic decline was no accident. It was a result of public and private policies — including racially restrictive housing covenants, steering and redlining — explicitly designed to keep Black residents out of white neighborhoods and segregate Kalamazoo housing by race, all the while starving Black neighborhoods of resources.
Hatfield is looking around Kalamazoo County for affordability, hoping to stay in Kalamazoo Public Schools, without sacrificing too much in areas like safety. She scours Zillow and other websites to find homes for sale before they disappear. They often go quickly, she said. It’s a common tale in Kalamazoo County. Incomes have risen 19% since 2019 — but housing prices are up 46%. Finding housing that doesn’t break the bank used to be a problem for low-income folks. Now, even households with a decent salary are in a pinch.
From summertime outdoor concerts to annual festivals focused on specific cultures, Kalamazoo and its surrounding area has no shortage of arts and cultural and events for the public to attend. These events not only reflect and celebrate community identity but also can give cities and neighborhoods an economic boost.
Kids events at the annual Black Arts Festival held in Bronson Park.
As a national movement to replace grass-dominated lawns with native plantings catches on, several local faith institutions are rewilding part of their land.
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