Despite being responsible for the success of the businesses along South Division, the working class is faced with little room to advocate for financial freedom and equitable access to opportunities.
As entrepreneurs of color are faced with barriers to opportunities, they are finding non-traditional ways of building their businesses and the local economy.
Burton Elementary has a long history of success and is further banding together with the community to support students and their families. These efforts, however, are being jeopardized by the state's emphasis on standardized testing practices that unfairly penalize schools serving primarily English language learner communities, writes Saúl Ulloa, an alumnus of Burton and a longtime resident of the Burton Heights and Garfield Park area.
The Garfield Park Neighborhoods Association functions as the second largest neighborhood association in the city of Grand Rapids. As the organization makes the effort to build community, including searching for a new executive director, it becomes increasingly challenging, and important, to engage the residents of the area while addressing issues of job availability and displacement.
Growing up on Burton Street in Grand Rapids' south side, Ken Miguel-Cipriano thought all neighborhoods looked like his. It was not until high school that he saw other communities in depth and began to understand the stark difference Burton Street makes.
Rapid Growth's new On The Ground series focuses on the community found along South Division Avenue, touching on the Garfield Park and Burton Heights neighborhoods. This series will highlight the stories of the neighbors and community members who make this area what it is today. The project begins with a celebration of the strong spirit of entrepreneurship and hospitality in the area.
Michelle Jokisch Polo, a journalist and Grand Rapidian who originally hails from El Salvador and Ecuador, is bringing her expertise in advocating against systemic oppression, offering critical analysis and listening to the community through her research to Rapid Growth's newest series, On The Ground.
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