Community spotlights: December 2025

When we think of strength, we visualize a sudden burst of energy that meets the demand of the moment. Maybe it’s lifting a weight that seemed impossibly heavy or tackling a daunting challenge. Yet, in many ways, strengthening is a deliberate process that requires consistent attention. This month, we celebrate some W.K. Kellogg Foundation grantees who are building strength for the journey ahead.  
 

• The Fund for Public Health NYC launched a pilot “Neighborhood Stress-Free Zone” in Brownsville, Brooklyn, N.Y. It provides mental health screenings and support services for new parents to address rising maternal mortality.

• With support from Racial Equity 2030 grantee partner Namati, more than 200 fishing and rural communities in Sierra Leone negotiated a landmark agreement to protect 79,000 hectares of wetlands and forest — giving communities legal rights and a voice in who controls their land.  

Mexico 

• CEPIADET, an Indigenous legal advice center, launched a digital mapping tool designed to reveal the geographic and linguistic inequities that shape access to justice in Mexico.  
   

Michigan 

• Milk Like Mine, Battle Creek’s only birthing and breastfeeding support center, provides free culturally responsive maternal care, doulas and lactation services, helping families improve early health outcomes. 

• Grand Rapids Promise Zone’s expansion will fund bachelor’s degrees for Grand Rapids Community College students, easing financial strain and creating clearer, debt-free paths to college completion and better careers.   

• Battle Creek Public Schools Superintendent Kimberly Carter was named Michigan Superintendent of the Year for gains in early learning, student achievement and college access, and launching the Bearcat Advantage scholarship. 

• The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan received funding to expand digital literacy and job readiness training, helping residents build essential technology skills and improve workforce opportunities. 

• A new Brookings report outlines resident-informed policy recommendations to improve life for Black Michiganders. These include stronger housing support, neighborhood investment, youth workforce programs and access to culturally representative health care. 

• The Motown Museum completed the steel structure for its $75 million, 40,000-square-foot Motown Experience expansion. This is a major step toward its planned 2027 opening with new exhibits, attractions and a theater. 

• A report finds Michigan has the nation’s second-highest rate of private equity-owned mobile home parks, warning the profit model drives steep rent hikes and urging stronger protections for residents. 
   

Mississippi  

• The Mississippi Center for Justice launched IMPACT Mississippi and a new Maternal Health Blog Series highlighting the state’s maternal and infant health crisis and elevating solutions for more equitable care. 

• The Emmett Till Interpretive Center purchased the historic seed barn where Till was killed, preserving the site and transforming it into a place for truth-telling, remembrance and healing. 

 
New Mexico 

• The Semilla Project’s new documentary, Across Together, follows nine young people in the project’s Return Program as they reconnect with culture and identity through a transformative journey to Mexico.  

• Encuentro is partnering with Nusenda Credit Union to expand microloans up to $50,000, empowering underserved entrepreneurs with capital and guidance, strengthening financial stability and driving job creation and economic opportunity. 

New Orleans 

• Born After the Storm, a Be Loud Studios series featuring 16 New Orleans youth stories about Hurricane Katrina, reached over 400 students, helping them understand and connect the storm’s impact to their own lives.  

• Covenant House New Orleans’ “Sleep Out” drew 233 sleepers and 44 teams, raising over $500,000 to support efforts to end youth homelessness and fund critical shelter and outreach services. 

• WKKF President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron will join bestselling authors, historians, poets and leaders at the 2026 New Orleans Book Festival in March.Explore the lineup. 

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