Gryphon Place has experienced substantial growth in recent years, including outgrowing their current building. During community conversations held las year, Gryphon Place identified a need to strengthen their relationships with community partners and prioritize a person-centered approach to well-being. To accomplish this goal, Gryphon Place plans to open a second location in downtown Kalamazoo with the help of their Building Connection Capital Campaign.
The Building Connection Capital Campaign hopes to raise $1 million to support the purchase of a building. As of today, the campaign is 60% toward the goal.
“We are excited to expand back into downtown Kalamazoo, close to wear Gryphon Place launched in 1970,” said Maricela Alcala, CEO of Gryphon Place. “The City of Kalamazoo has a poverty rate of 25% with 53% of households living below ALICE. Being centrally located will allow us to provide in-person support to those who need it most.”
Gryphon Place will be opening their second location at 321 W Cedar St., the former KPEP facility. This location will make Gryphon Place more visible and accessible to those using public transportation, walking, or biking. It will also provide space to launch two new programs, the Youth Social Hub and the Community Information Exchange®.
The Youth Social Hub will serve as a centralized source of support to Kalamazoo County youth connecting and helping navigate community resources and social-emotional learning support in partnership with area youth serving agencies and schools. Gryphon Place will have collaborative services provided by people with lived experience to help inform and navigate our youth through crisis and conflict. The Hub will also house Gryphon Place’s Justice Lifted Youth Diversion Program, be a place for community partners to offer programming, and provide health and human services, in addition to academic support services.
The Community Information Exchange® is a framework that supports a community member in seeking and obtaining services by exchanging data among multiple organizations. It puts the individual at the center, allowing agencies to better tailor and provide services specific to the individual while also allowing the individual to seek services at multiple agencies more seamlessly. This is accomplished through community partners’ use of a shared language, a shared resource database, and an integrated technology platform. Expanding downtown will allow us to provide this in-person assistance.
Gryphon Place will renovate its current 8th Street building to better serve the community as their Administrative and Training Center. This portion of the project has been funded. Renovations will create larger spaces for suicide prevention trianings and support staff training and on-boarding. Space will be dedicated for Restorative Practices services and work stations for Youth Programs staff. The renovation will also address areas of improvement that were identified during the ADA audit conducted by the Disability Network of Southwest Michigan.
Gryphon Place aims to open the downtown location in 2024.
To learn about the Capital Campaign and to donate, visit gryphon.org/capital-campaign.