“I don’t want a car. They’re isolating for one thing. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to ride a bus and talk to people. It’s just so calming to be taken somewhere."

Southwest Michigan Second Wave is a team of local writers and photographers who love where they live. The stories they cover impact them and strengthen their sense of community. Read some of their reflections on 2023 stories here.

Introducing Jennifer Cooley, the new museum education and community engagement director at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. As the KIA approaches its 100th anniversary, she has a few surprises in store.

Candace Carlisle says she and her trained service dog regularly are asked to leave restaurants and stores, even though such a request is illegal.   

“What we as adults need to do is to question our beliefs and values — are we actually living and acting on them,” says Bridget Blough who co-founded Free to Bloom, a homeschool cooperative that meets in a greenhouse. “Too many of us are disassociated from what we value and how we live. Take your money to do what you love — beginning with your child.”