It started 5 years ago with a question. What if Grand Rapids were the kind of city where New American women are truly welcome? Not just where their presence is tolerated, but where they can sink their roots deep and flourish. The...
Many cultures and faiths hail loving our neighbor as fundamental to a life well-lived- our neighborliness is seen as a mark of our goodness. But in the hustle of our modern life and the isolation that our individuality and now COVID has...
Nelson Mandela said “Lead from the back. And let others believe they are in front.” At Treetops, we think Mr. Mandela was on to something. New Americans can often feel like they’re “in the back,” struggling to keep up with everyone else...
By: Katie Brubaker It was another school snow day and my eight-year-old daughter and two neighborhood friends were running around the house. I watched them zip from basketball, to baking, to writing, directing, and then starring in their own play. They...
Rewind one year: It’s October 2017, and I’m beginning my Communications Internship at Treetops Collective. It has been four months since I graduated college, four months of being a “real adult,” free of due dates and sleepy-eyed studying. In one hand I'm...
Dana and I founded Treetops in the midst of a busy season of motherhood. With toddlers and babies in tow, we scribbled ideas on post-its, gathered the community for listening sessions, and took baby steps, and a couple of bold steps, to...
