Health and Well-Being

Founded in 2019 in response to the shortage of Black mental health providers and culturally affirming services in Kalamazoo, the Breaking the Stigma: African American Mental Health Symposium is a signature initiative of Synergy Health Center (SHC).

Our mission is to transform lives through equitable behavioral health services and increase access to holistic wellness through culturally responsive care, education, and advocacy. Our vision is a community where Black voices are amplified, stigma is dismantled, and mental health care is accessible, trusted and transformative.

At the heart of the symposium is an intentional focus on culturally affirming mental wellness. Through keynote presentations, peer-led panels and collaborative workshops, participants gain practical tools for emotional resilience, coping strategies rooted in community strengths, and pathways to care that honor Black identity and heritage. The convening creates safe spaces for storytelling, reducing isolation and reshaping cultural narratives around help-seeking.

Outcomes continue to show increased confidence among attendees in engaging with mental health care, , while participating professionals report enhanced cultural competency and expanded partnerships with community organizations, strengthening a regional ecosystem of support for historically underserved populations.

The symposium’s impact extends far beyond a single day. We will host our 7th annual convening in Detroit, Michigan, expanding our statewide reach. With the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation’s investment, we continue building a community where every voice is heard and every person is empowered to pursue whole-health and well-being.

For more information, visit synergykzoo.org/blackwellness/breakingstigma.

Cares of Southwest Michigan was started by activists in 1985 in response to AIDS, providing a place for people to ask questions about HIV and share information about HIV across the state. That collaborative spirit in the face of uncertainty remains a pillar of the organization.

Today, Cares’ mission is to provide comprehensive sexual wellness services where all participants feel welcome, well-informed, cared for and loved. Its vision is a community of individuals – regardless of status, position or background – that are empowered to navigate their own sexual health and wellness without shame, stigma or judgment.

We do this through case management and housing assistance for people living with HIV; STI and HIV prevention, testing and education; and our clinic, Iridescent Health, which provides LGBTQ primary and gender affirming care as well as HIV medical care and primary care.

Cares has always been focused on providing services where it is most convenient for clients. To that end, The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation graciously funded a mobile clinic for Cares, increasing our ability to provide HIV and STI testing and medical care in Kalamazoo County. We have used our mobile unit at OutFront Kalamazoo and plan to use it at area Pride events and throughout the community.

Our goal is to work with community partners in providing care through the mobile clinic to help de-stigmatize HIV and STI testing as well as to share resources.

For more information, please visit www.caresswm.org

Established in 1947, Eversight’s mission is to restore sight and prevent blindness through the healing power of donation, transplantation and research. We screen cornea tissue donors; evaluate donor eligibility; and recover, process and provide human eye tissue for transplantation to those in need worldwide.

Poor eye health can have a detrimental effect on mortality, quality of life, independence and a person’s economic situation. One of the leading causes of vision impairment is corneal-related blindness, which can be cured through a corneal transplant. Corneal transplants are the most common type of transplant, with a success rate of more than 97 percent. This is a critical surgery that thousands depend on to live their lives to the fullest, and Eversight plays a key role in providing tissue for these transplants in Kalamazoo County.

In 2024, we worked with 171 Kalamazoo County residents who gave the gift of sight as corneal donors. In the same year, 33 tissues were provided for Kalamazoo County residents to receive a second chance at sight through a corneal transplant.

For more information, visit www.eversightvision.org.

In 2014, two years after losing her daughter to a heroin overdose, Nancy King began a support group aimed at providing guidance for families struggling to understand and help loved ones experiencing substance use and addiction. These meetings quickly grew to include people who were struggling with substance use themselves, people who were in recovery, caretakers and friends. Due to the success of these meetings, COPE Network was founded in 2016.

Since then, COPE has continued providing support for individuals and families navigating substance use and recovery-related hardships. Using a harm-reduction framework opposed to an abstinence-based framework, COPE acknowledges substance use as a choice people make for themselves for a variety of reasons, without passing judgment or perpetuating stigma. With this framework, COPE does not require people to achieve abstinence or begin recovery in order to access valuable resources and support.

Whether it’s going to rehab, using substances more safely or repairing strained relationships with loved ones, COPE helps participants work toward positive behavior changes and improved health outcomes wherever possible. Through core programming, COPE has provided overdose prevention training and free naloxone kits to thousands of residents in Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan.

COPE also provides a safe, non-judgmental space for the substance-using and recovery communities of Kalamazoo to access free classes related to art, music and movement; alternative recovery meetings; peer support; recovery coaching; free harm reduction supplies; referrals to mental health care, medical care and housing resources; and more.

For more information, visit: www.copenetwork.org

Integrated Services of Kalamazoo (ISK) is the public community mental health services program authority for Kalamazoo County and a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.  In July 2023, ISK opened its new Behavioral Health Urgent Care and Access Center located at 440 W. Kalamazoo Avenue in the City of Kalamazoo.

This 24-hour center is Kalamazoo County’s first behavioral health urgent care and access center, one of very few across the state of Michigan. We have already served over2,300 people.  The center is open to all ages and incomes, with or without insurance coverage, and to anyone struggling with an urgent behavioral health problem. Anyone in crisis may walk in or call 269-373-6000 for same-day, easy access to mental health professionals.

The 7,900-square-foot center houses nine treatment rooms, offices, waiting rooms, a conference room, reception area, lobby, and security office. A police and ambulance entrance allows the center to serve as an alternative to a hospital emergency department for people experiencing behavioral health crises.

As our CEO Jeff Patton explains, our location is intentional. It is near areas with a high concentration of individuals receiving behavioral health services, including those experiencing homelessness. It is also easily walkable from nearby shelters and the city’s downtown area.

For more information, visit: www.iskzoo.org

In April of 2005, a gentleman from our community returned home to care for his aging mother and he was faced with a dilemma. He realized to take care of his mother he needed medical equipment like a walker, commode and shower chair. His name was John Hilliard, and he was a visionary and entrepreneur. John began going to all the Millwood garage sales, buying and refurbishing equipment in his garage. But he took it a step further: he began asking neighbors if they needed equipment and to his surprise his vision turned into reality: Lending Hands was born!

Since 2005, Lending Hands has served over 55,000 residents of a six-county region that includes; Allegan, Cass, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren. Our loan period is for seven months FREE of charge. Where else can you go today and receive services that will enhance your life and mobility for free?

Since the genesis of Lending Hands, we have been able to measure the impact of our services. In 2005 we served 42 clients. In 2019 we served over 5,000 Kalamazoo County residents at a savings of over $400,000 dollars. In 2021 we served 4,664 clients with a total savings of $270,000, in 2022 we served 4,639 with a savings of $296,000.

We are making a difference!

For more information, visit www.lendinghandsmi.org

The Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home Foundation was founded in 2004 to generate funds and provide engaging opportunities for youth enrolled in our County’s juvenile justice programs. Since its inception, our most long-standing and effective program has been music therapy. What began as services for youth in detention has since been expanded to reach young people in all branches of our facility. These include educational programs, where 20% of all science classes are taught with music therapy support, diversion programs where music therapy promotes avenues for youth to build skills and break cycles of recidivism, and family sessions meant to solidify growth-in-treatment and support a youth’s successful transition through groups that include siblings and caregivers. As they move through the various programs, youth create original music and audio recordings that tell their story of challenging the past, championing the present, and crafting a brighter future. More than 400 original recordings are made and submitted to the youth that create them each year. We have seen consistent and positive results from music therapy approaches, and believe that these benefits not only improve the lives of the youth in our care, but also benefit our Kalamazoo community as a whole. In a survey of 86 youth served last year, 93% stated that music therapy helps them learn and achieve life goals. 90% stated that arts programming makes a difference in life outside of our facility. Music therapy supports our mission of enriching the lives of youth and families that we serve.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/kalamazoojuvenilehomefoundation

Synergy Health Center’s UrbanZone is strategically located between the North and East sides of Kalamazoo, with the goal of improving the quality of life for Black and Brown adolescents in the community. The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unprecedented disruption to the educational system, an uncanny recognition of social injustices and the unfolding of trauma in the lives of
our youth.

UrbanZone was able to act quickly, including opening its doors as a Community Learning Hub in partnership with Kalamazoo Youth Development Network and Kalamazoo Public Schools to provide educational support weekly. To better serve youth and community, we found ourselves pivoting and restructuring program delivery. We took time to revisit the heart of our mission and vision looking for greater impact. Out of the ashes, we developed a new cohort approach creating tremendous learning opportunities for students in 9th through 12th grade while providing educational and mental health support.

Through the support of various funders, UrbanZone was able to launch several innovative programs, including The College Academic Success Team (CAST), designed to prepare students for academic success and college preparation. Collaboration with Kalamazoo Valley Community College helps bring the college experience directly to the students, including college tours. UrbanZone also launched the Mind Health Ambassadors Program, which teaches adolescents about mental health and mindfulness techniques, including Yoga practices, so they can become mind health ambassadors in their schools and community. Our new programming allows more students to be helped by our mission of transforming lives and empowering people for a lifetime.

For more information, visit www.synergykzoo.org/urbanzone

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) implemented relevant Kalamazoo County health education programs. For instance, Vaccine Community Team Champions partnered with inner-city community organizations – Mothers of Hope, El Concillio and Hope thru Navigation – to provide vaccines and vaccination education for Kalamazoo’s diverse patient population, including those who are unhoused.

Meanwhile, WMed medical students received real-world experience led by WMed faculty Dr. Cheryl Dickson, Associate Dean, Health Equity and Community Affairs and Associate Professor, Pediatrics, and Dr. Matt Longjohn, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine. In total, 95% of the community members who attended our events received vaccinations and others learned more about the misconceptions of the vaccine from medical students.

Indeed, WMed students are working with grassroots organizations to create culturally responsive messaging aimed at providing education about the COVID-19 vaccine and addressing hesitancy among many in the Black and Hispanic communities, thereby encouraging them to receive the vaccine. According to Dr. Dickson: “This work is going to help the students be better providers in the future as physicians and they will learn what it means to be able to communicate more effectively with patients from diverse backgrounds who might not have as much trust in the healthcare system. That’s really what will help in the improvement of health outcomes.”

For more information, visit www.med.wmich.edu

ASK Family Services provides peer support to families and youth in the Kalamazoo Community. Our mission is to assist families and their children who have developmental, mood, emotional, and behavioral challenges to understand and navigate services, advocate effectively, and achieve their potential.

Our staff members have lived experiences of disability, either as a parent of a child with special needs or as a youth who has experienced mental health challenges. Through the barriers we have faced individually we aim to inspire hope and help families recognize the strengths they have to draw from during diffcult times.

The services ASK provides to families can decrease isolation, empower parents, share knowledge on effective parenting, increase community involvement, provide an opportunity to have a voice, increase resiliency, and ensure that those we serve are not alone during times of need. Our families achieve these outcomes through one-on-one interactions, support-group participation, the location of community resources, trainings focused on challenges they face, social events, and evidenced-based parental learning opportunities.

The youth we serve have many opportunities to gain leadership skills, reduce stigma around mental health challenges, inform the various systems they may be involved with, learn to have an authentic voice in their care, acquire new skills, and develop positive and supportive relationships. These goals are accomplished through our youth advisory group and youth peer support programs in both individual and group formats. At ASK Family Services, we help families and youth recognize their strengths and use them to build a better future for themselves. Because we have all faced similar challenges we are uniquely qualifed to share our experiences, strengths, and hope to empower those we serve to achieve their fullest potential.

For more information, visit www.askforkids.org