In this episode, WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower speaks with Mary Jennings, Executive Director with The Grand Rapids Ballet, and James Sofranko, the Artistic Director with the Grand Rapids Ballet.

Mary and James joined us on the program for a preview of the 2025–2026 season.

The season kicks off with the world premiere production of “Sherlock"--October 24-26, 2025, at Peter Martin Wege Theatre. Next up is the timeless holiday classic, “The Nutcracker", December 12-14 & 19-21 at DeVos Performance Hall, and three other dynamic productions throughout the remainder of the Ballet’s 2025-2026 season.

Tickets for all shows, as well as more information, are available at grballet.com

Online: The Grand Rapids Ballet

In this episode, we speak with Patrick Placzkowski, Chief Executive Officer, Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids, and Daryl Reece, Community leader, founder of the Piecing Together Unity Foundation, and also a board member with the Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids.

Daryl shared his story with us regarding the powerful impact that was made on him as a young man while attending programming at the Boys and Girls Clubs in both Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor.

The mission of the Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as responsible citizens through education, recreation, and positive community experiences in partnership with the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids offers youth a safe, caring environment and equips them with practical tools to help them prepare for a solid future.

They offer very affordable memberships for only $5 per year!

ONLINE-Boys and Girls Club of Grand Rapids

In this week's episode, WYCE's John Rummery welcomes Pablo Garcia, the Executive Director of SECOM Resource Center.     

The mission at SECOM Resource Center is to give help and hope to their neighbors by empowering families to achieve their full potential through healthy living, education, and economic opportunities.

SECOM began in 1971 as an outreach ministry of four area churches to meet the needs of the surrounding neighborhood, particularly in hunger and food insecurity.

In 1993, SECOM became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Today, SECOM is a key resource center that gives help today and builds hope for tomorrow through providing equitable access to resources that promote healthy living, education, and economic opportunities for low-income children and families.

Online SECOM

In this episode, we welcome Jess Young, Executive Director with East Hills Council of Neighbors.

Through regular meetings and continuous outreach, East Hills is reaching beyond the status quo to address the needs of its community.

With the collaboration of passionate neighbors, they have worked to build and maintain a beautiful, diverse, friendly, and safe place to live, work, and play.

The East Hills Council holds monthly meetings on the third Monday of Every Month at 6:30 PM in Cherry Park
All are welcome!

MORE INFO: East Hills Council of Neighbors

East Hills Council of Neighbors on Facebook

In this episode, we speak with Jason Wheeler and Bruce Ling, cofounders and instructors for the annual Great Lakes Music Camp.

This year's Great Lakes Music Camp is October 2-5.

Once again, this year's session is sold out, but there are opportunities to be added to a waiting list for next year's session.

Great Lakes Music Camp is an inspiring and community-building musical experience held on the shores of Lake Michigan at Camp Blodgett Loeks Retreat Center.

The camp creates a unique opportunity for equitable access to traditional music education and offers attendees the opportunity to engage with world-class instructors, staff, and musicians while being immersed in the beauty of Michigan’s lakeshore.

GLMC’s team has long-standing partnerships with several community partners, organizations, businesses, and individuals who provide varying levels of support.

Funds are raised through a fiduciary partnership with Grand River Watershed Arts & Music Council (GRWAMC), a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

This support allows camp leaders to offer a Youth Scholarship Program and to provide additional financial assistance to students throughout the year for a continued traditional arts education.

Learn more about Great Lakes Music Camp HERE.

In this episode, WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower welcomes Stefanie Pohl, Senior Content Specialist · Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

In July, a unique Crowdfunding Campaign called "Northeast Grand Rapids: A City of Healing" was launched with a $50,000 goal to win a matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative.

This project was powered by donations through the success of a crowdfunding campaign led by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the nonprofit Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts (LRCFA), which was powered by donations through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.

We're pleased to add that after this program was recorded, the Grand Rapids City of Healing project met its required match of $50,000 on August 23, 2025, triggering the MEDC match of $50,000 to complete the project.

Because of the successful funding and the match from the MEDC, a new series of public art installations and murals will be completed throughout Northeast Grand Rapids to improve public health and community connection.

Public Spaces Community Places is a collaborative effort of the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League, and Patronicity, in which residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC.

The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan.

As of July 7, 2025, MEDC has provided more than $14.3 million in matching grants.

On this week's episode, WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower speaks with Allison Donahue, Program Manager, The Rapidian.

Allison joined us on this program to provide us with an update about everything happening with The Rapidian.

In 2023, the Rapidian introduced the Grand Rapids Documenters program, part of the nationwide Documenters Network, to create a new public record in Grand Rapids.

Since then, The Rapidian has been training and paying community members to record notes and audio for a diverse range of local public meetings, with a goal of boosting transparency and making what goes on at City Hall (and in boardrooms and auditoriums across the city) more accessible to our neighbors.

Allison also reminded us that The Rapidian upholds the highest standards of editorial independence.

The staff has a strong commitment to full transparency in how they fund their work.

The Rapidian accepts gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals, organizations, and foundations to support its operations, special projects, and coverage of specific topics.

However, editorial decisions remain entirely independent—donors have no role in assigning, reviewing, or editing content.

The Rapidian is holding a fund drive September 15-19.

ONLINE: ⁠The Rapidian⁠

In this episode, WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower speaks with Cindy Meyers-Foley, the Director and CEO ofThe Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Cindy spoke with us about several programs and happenings at the GRAM, including their new "Thursdays on the Terrace" programming, the GRAM on The Green Concert Series, a partnership with WYCE Community Radio.

Cindy also spoke about the changing role of museums, especially how places like the Grand Rapids Art Museum are becoming positive spaces for health and wellbeing, third spaces, and spaces for community and social connection.

Much of their new initiatives are centered on community outreach, including an exciting new program we spoke about at GRAM...their Teen Identity program.

We also briefly discussed the must-see exhibition: David Hockney: Perspective Should Be Reversed, Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. The exhibit continues through November 2 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Online: The Grand Rapids Art Museum

Cindy Meyers-Foley, Director and CEO ofthe Grand Rapids Art Museum.(Late August)

Online:artmuseumgr.org

CLOSE: You’ve been listening toWYCE’s Community Closeup…a weekly public affairs program produced inpartnership with The Rapidian, a hyper-local news service of the Grand RapidsCommunity Media Center. This is WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower…thank you forjoining us!

Cindy Meyers-Foley, Director and CEO ofthe Grand Rapids Art Museum.(Late August)

Online:artmuseumgr.org

CLOSE: You’ve been listening toWYCE’s Community Closeup…a weekly public affairs program produced inpartnership with The Rapidian, a hyper-local news service of the Grand RapidsCommunity Media Center. This is WYCE Station Manager Phil Tower…thank you forjoining us!