Stoneleigh Hospice Residence is tuned in to world music

No one is better equipped to know what immediate family members of Hospice patients need better than those family members themselves.

A public computer station
with Internet access at the
Stoneleigh Residence.

That’s why Hospice of Lansing’s Stoneleigh Residence is outfitted with so many comforts and conveniences – many were suggested by family members and several were donated by friends and family as well.

Mini refrigerators in patients’ rooms. DVD players. Bird houses. Solar lights in the serene landscaping.

A grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation helped the Stoneleigh Residence add another convenience suggested by the adult son of a Hospice patient: Free Wi-Fi. The woman’s son was dedicated to staying by his mother’s side in the residence; however, the demands of his job required him to work remotely. Without Wi-Fi at Stoneleigh, he had to leave every time he needed Internet access.

REACH Studio Art Center keeps creative juices flowing

Art lessons aren’t as ubiquitous as they were a couple of decades ago.

Programs that encourage creativity are often among the first ones cut from budgets, leaving kids — and adults— with little exposure to making cool, creative stuff.

But not at REACH Studio Art Center. The nonprofit neighborhood space for arts education and civic engagement keeps arts and creativity front-and-center for Lansing’s REO Town residents and beyond.

Lunch and dignity

My visit to the Southside Community Kitchen today delivered a combination of expected and unexpected finds.

Expected: Friendly volunteers working to prepare lunch for an indeterminate number of guests at the Christ United Methodist Church on Jolly Road in Lansing. Rows of pie slices lined the kitchen counter, waiting to become dessert.

Unexpected: Round tables of eight set with paper place mats, plastic ware wrapped in paper napkins and secured with a dark green wrapper. A grand piano in the back corner of the room, being played as lovely background music. Volunteers acting as servers for the guests.

That's right: No one stands in line to wait for food at the Southside Community Kitchen, executive director Anna Thiel explained. "It's more dignified," she said.

An awesome twist on "Can we have class outside today?"

Remember when you were a kid in school and you'd look out the classroom window and wish you could be "out there" instead of cooped up at your desk?

So you'd plead with your teacher, "Can we please have class outside today?"

For some Lansing-area students, having class outside is a reality.

And this is what $13,781 buys you for an outdoor classroom.

That's what the Capital Region Community Foundation granted to Annie's BIG Nature Lesson, a program that immerses children, teachers and parents in the beauty and wonder of the natural world.

Started in 1999 by Michigan Teacher of the Year Margaret Holtschlag, this program is unrivaled in the experience it gives kids. For one week, a class uses community resources as its classroom — in Lansing, that's at Woldumar Nature Center, a nonprofit environmental education organization situated along the Grand River and boasting more than five miles of trails.

"Kids spend so much time tuning out," Holtschlag said. "To do their homework, they have to tune out the TV in the other room, tune out traffic, tune out other people in the family. Here, we're asking them to tune in."

Random rant on enthusiasm

During a bout of insomnia last night, this fell out of my brain:

Enthusiasm is underrated. People who don’t – or can’t, or refuse to – get excited about things frustrate me. How can you go through life feeling ho-hum and blasé about the world around you all the time?

Abused women find a safe home at EVE's house in Lansing

In a brightly painted room filled with comfortable couches and lots and lots of chairs, you might think you were in someone’s home for a tea party.

Instead, you’re in a meeting room at EVE’s house.

EVE — or End Violent Encounters — provides shelter and supportive services to the victims of domestic violence. Their offices are housed, literally, in a nondescript house on a nondescript street.

That’s the point.

Haven House keeps families together when it matters most

Imagine losing your home. You, your spouse and your children are on the verge of being homeless.

You look around for a shelter where you can find temporary housing and get some help getting back on your feet.

But men aren’t allowed in the shelter. Only women — and only boys younger than 12.

So your family has to split up at a time it matters most to stay together for support.

That’s the case for many families in search of temporary housing, but not if they can find help through Haven House in East Lansing.