Alternatives in Motion Celebrates Racial Healing

Alternatives in Motion recently received a National Day of Racial Healing Mini-Grant. Learn more about how they utilized these grant dollars to positively impact local families.

“Alternatives in Motion would like to extend a huge thank you to our partners at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County! This past January 18th was National Day of Racial Healing, a day dedicated to and called for racial healing, and to unify together to create a more equitable world. On this day, we acknowledge that there are still deep racial divides in our communities and commit to engaging with people from all racial, ethnic, religious, and identity groups. With money granted from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, we were able to purchase the book ‘What If We Were All The Same!’ by C. M. Harris. This children’s book has themes of friendship and acceptance, with a storyline that aims to teach children to embrace their own and others’ differences. C. M. Harris, or Charity, was born in Oklahoma with her family. At a young age, she was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT). By Charity’s sophomore year of high school, this condition had progressed, and she was using a wheelchair. The experiences she felt growing up and feeling different inspired her to write this children’s book. With help from the grant, we were able to give this book to hundreds of our pediatric families and clients. Along with this, we were able to distribute multicultural crayons with paper face silhouettes so they can color a picture matching how they look. This lit up the children’s and families’ faces, making it a great experience for everyone. We are so excited to have had the opportunity to celebrate this day with our clients and would like to once again thank our partners at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.” 

To learn more about our current grant opportunities, click here for more information and to apply.