Author: Alaina Dobkowski

Press Release: Access of West Michigan Moves Forward with New Leadership Team

Access of West Michigan Moves Forward with New Leadership Team FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  This past spring Access of West Michigan launched a new four-person, Co-Executive Director Team. This team is composed of Christina Swiney, Co-Executive Director of Operations; McKenzie VanPatten, Co-Executive Director of Programs; Nikeyia Perkins, Co-Executive Director of Engagement; and Alaina Dobkowski, Co-Executive Director of Advancement.    Access of West Michigan’s mission is to strengthen and develop wholistic solutions to poverty by cultivating equitable systems through education and collaboration, with the values of collaboration, anti-racism, and shared leadership at the forefront, Access has been utilizing a co-leadership model for […]

Thank you, Wolthuis Group!

Get to know the Wolthuis Group!  We are so thankful for their Harvest Level Sponsorship and generous support.  Mission Statement: We Help Businesses Answer the Question, “Are We Doing IT Right?” We’re technology experts with an entrepreneur’s problem-solving spirit. That’s why so many business leaders choose Wolthuis Group to make their IT easy, efficient and nearly invisible. We’ve been fortunate to be able to continue to help businesses thrive even in these uncertain times by ensuring they receive the support they need whether on-site or remotely. We’ve helped them continue to keep operations running smoothly. Why did you decide to […]

Re-thinking Holiday Giving

We are entering the holiday season and everything that comes with it- traditions, family gatherings, special worship services, and the biggest season of giving of the year.  Recently our Good Food Team partnered with the Congregation Connections Team to host a Lunch ‘n Learn, focusing in on Understanding Food Access and what that looks like this time of year in particular. Historically our charitable food system has perpetuated many inequities in black and brown communities through programs, acts of “kindness”, and holiday giving (for example, food and toy drives). The intent has been good, but these activities detract from opportunities […]

Juneteenth 2021

JUNETEENTH EVENTS, RESOURCES, AND CELEBRATIONS  This week we are celebrating Juneteenth, and Access will be taking a day off to commemorate this important historical day and holiday.  “Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.  Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation â€“ which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to […]

Thank you SpartanNash for being a Harvester Sponsors of the Walk for Good Food!

We interviewed our Harvester and Grower sponsors to learn more about who they are and why they believe investing in a good food system is important. Thank you to all our sponsors of the Walk for Good Food for their investment in a good food system for all! Please describe your company/organization’s mission and role in our community.  SpartanNash is a Fortune 400 grocery retailer and distributor. We own and operate D&W Fresh Market, Forest Hills Foods, Family Fare and Ada Fresh Market supermarkets in West Michigan. Our vision is to have a best-in-class business that feels local, where relationships matter.   We […]

Thank you Andy J. Egan Company, Inc. for your Harvest Sponsorship of the Walk for Good Food!

We interviewed our Harvester and Grower sponsors to learn more about who they are and why the believe investing in a good food system is important. Thank you to all our sponsors of the Walk for Good Food for their investment in a good food system for all! Please describe your company/organization’s mission and role in our community. For more than a century, Egan has had a hand in constructing some of the most well-known buildings in West Michigan, such as the Amway Grand Plaza, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, JW Marriott and DeVos Convention Center. You can find our crews […]

Exploring Fair Food

Like the other tenets, there are specific goals which underlie the effort towards Fair Food. These goals include that the autonomy and humanity of workers all along the food chain are respected and that the food system, generally, be founded on a base of good, fair paying jobs. These goals can be further broken down into things like safe working conditions, consistent communication with and listening to and among workers, and security from threat through wages or a party like I.C.E. Fair Food is unique among the Good Food tenets in that there have been multiple fair food movements over […]

Exploring Healthy Food Work

When it comes to putting our definition of Healthy Food into practice, there is an important thing to keep in mind: while there are some general characteristics that are common to foods we call “healthy” (such as nutrient-rich and low in added fats, sugars, or salts), everyone is going to have a different approach to what food is healthy for them. If you recall, the definition of Healthy Food in the Michigan Good Food Charter is food that, “provides nourishment and enables people to thrive.” In order to thrive, we not only need access to fresh, whole, nutritious foods, but […]

Exploring Green Food Work

While it is difficult to completely separate the different tenets of the Good Food System idea from one another, there are some goals that are specific to each tenet. When we talk about “Green” food, the goals we have in mind often are centered around making a food system that works with, rather than against, an area’s indigenous ecosystem. As we mentioned before, a food system that looks like this would not be a new invention – people across the world and across time have done this, and this is still practiced by many Indigenous American communities today.  Throughout Michigan’s history and especially within […]

Stop AAPI Hate Statement

Stop AAPI Hate Statement We condemn the hate and intolerance towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community that continues to take place in our community and across the United States. We lament the tragic events that took place in Atlanta last week, a mass shooting that killed six Asian women. Since March 2020 the organization Stop AAPI Hate has recorded 3,795 hate incident reports across the United States. Anti-Asian racism has a long history in the United States. And while this is not new, it is reported that hate crimes against Asian Americans in U.S. cities grew by just about 150% in 2020 (PBS). This is horrific, destructive, and has to stop. Below is Access’ continued […]