Mark your calendars now for one of the most exciting summer events in Holland Heights!
The annual Heights of Hope 5K is scheduled for Saturday, August 10 at 6:30 pm starting from Calvary Reformed Church. Stay tuned to the “Preparing for Race Day 2013″ page under the Heights of Hope 5K tab to get up to date information on the 5K. Online registration is now open! More information to come soon…
On Saturday, April 20th the Holland Heights neighborhood will come alive with performers, artists, free food, games, and activities for all ages!
Tuesday, April 2: Movie and Popcorn at Calvary (1:00 pm)
Wednesday, April 3: Trip to Timbertown (1:00–Snacks provided!)
Thursday, April 4: Free hot dog lunch followed by neighborhood cleanup (12:30pm)
Friday, April 5: Trip to the Critter Barn (1:00–$1 suggested donation per person)
For more information on each activity, visit our Facebook page or contact Melissa at 616.405.7174!
Heights of Hope would like to officially welcome our newest AmeriCorps member and Neighborhood Connector, Mandy Bullers-Hutcheson, to our team! Mandy is a part of the Good Samaritan Neighborhood Connections program, and will be representing our community and helping advocate for change for the upcoming year. Mandy is certainly not a stranger to our community or to Heights of Hope…she has been an active volunteer for several years, along with her husband, Tim, and son, Zach. We are excited to have Mandy join our team!!
January was National Mentoring Month and in honor of our mentors we had a luncheon to thank them. We had around 20 pairs come out and share a meal of chili, broccoli cheddar soup, and wonderful salads and desserts. The pairs also participated in making crafts like buttons out of fingerprints, games like minute-to-win-its and cards, and taking goofy pictures with hats and feathers and mustaches. After lunch we had an award ceremony recognizing each pair and the years that they have been together (some for only a few months and others over six years)! Hearing the kids talk about their experiences with their mentors is a tribute to the impact that a few hours a week baking cookies, shooting hoops, or taking a walk can make.
Many people have gone further than they ever thought they could because someone else believed in them. ~ Unknown
On Thursday January 31st the Community Center was glowing with candle light and the talents of the Holland Heights Community. Gourmet coffee brewed in the background of poetry, comedy, ukelele playing, singing, and storytelling. It was a night of encouragement and surprise, finding out that your neighbor is a poet or a singer songwriter. The night ended with snaps and laughs and a group sing-along of Hanukah Matata.
We all left excited about what we could bring to our next Open Mic Night, which we immediately scheduled for March 8th from 7-9. What do you have to share? A favorite poem or story. A joke your grandpa used to tell you? Anything!! We would love to see you there. 
“Hide not your talents, they for use were made, What’s a sundial in the shade?”― Benjamin Franklin
Next Monday, January 28th, at 6:30, Heights of Hope is hosting a showing of the movie Dakota 38 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’ll gather in the youth room at Calvary Church (995 E. 8th Street). A discussion will follow. We’d love for you to join us!
Dakota 38 is a Native American film created simply for the purpose of encouraging healing and and opening up the doors for conversation for reconciliation. The Dakota 38 + 2 memorial ride, commemorates the hanged Dakota warriors from December 26, 1862. Descendants of those lost in the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln, mount their horses on December 10th and begin their journey from Lower Brule, South Dakota and ride nearly 350 miles to Mankato, Minnesota on December 26th, the anniversary of the hanging. The riders share of their personal trauma, grief, depression, and sorrow, how it’s related to their history, to the present, and hopes for a different future through healing, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Please contact us with any questions!
Heights of Hope is excited about the start of 2013 and grateful for all of the inspirational moments in 2012!
Here’s a quick look back:
We celebrated Janine North’s graduation from the Neighborhood Leadership Academy!
We launched a new afterschool art program called EXPLOSION!
We kept our neighborhood CLEAN!
We recognized a lot of AMAZING mentors!
We celebrated the INCREDIBLE talent in our community at the Heights of Hope Fest!
We stayed HEALTHY through WHOA! and the Heights of Hope 5K!
We got a new logo! woo hoo!
Our neighborhood received a new MAX bus shelter!
We started dreaming about a NEW COMMUNITY CENTER!
The inspirational moments and pictures could just keep coming! We had community potlucks, neighborhood meetings, classes, lessons, times of listening and sharing, a food pantry, the Christmas Store…so many good things happening! Every day the Heights of Hope staff is amazed and blessed by the talent and generosity of our neighbors and volunteers. Communities don’t change unless people are willing to give, and our community is full of givers.
2012 was a splendid year in Holland Heights, and that makes us even more excited for what 2013 will bring!
We have an incredible group of people who’ve entered into one-on-one mentoring relationships with youth from our community. Each week, they spend time together building beautiful friendships, getting to know each others and becoming part of each others’ families, and growing and learning together. It is always a special time when we get to recognize one of these amazing relationships.
This week, we were joined by State Representative Joe Haveman to present one of our mentors, Jana Martin, with the Premiere Mentor Award. Jana has been matched with her mentee, Anistajha, for about two years now. They have a tremendous amount of fun together and always make each other laugh. Jana has been incredibly committed to Anistajha both during her times at Hope College and now as a first year teacher in Hamilton. Anistahja says that, “Mentoring is fun, fun, fun!” and “I know I can always talk to Jana!” But we’re convinced that Jana enjoys mentoring as much as Anistajha. She is constantly talking about how much she loves spending time with Anistajha! 
Jana is a committed, caring person and we couldn’t think of a better person to be receiving this award. We look forward to seeing Ani and Jana grow and learn together in the years to come!
Thanks everyone who participated in the Heights of Hope Harvest Festival last Saturday. We had a great time cleaning up the community, searching for hidden pumpkins, and returning to a crockpot and bake-off competition. Coming back to the community center to steaming crockpots full of pumpkin chili, chicken and dumplings, and spicy chorizo made working outside in the chilly air well worth it!
Congratulations to our winners:
Pumpkin Hunt Winner:
Jacob Salazar
Crockpot Cook-off:
3rd Melissa Maccune = Chicken and Dumplings
2nd Nicole Cleto = Maple Sausage
1st Esther Santiago = Spicy Chorizo
Bakeoff:
1st place tie =
Wasana Davis = White Chocolate Pumpkin Muffin
Becky Lawrence = Mini muffins drizzled in goodness
These are the names to beat for next year! Start planning those recipes!