From the Editor

We first wrote about the Southwest Michigan Child Trauma Assessment Center (CTAC) in Encore back in 2015, when it had been open and assessing children in the local child welfare system for 16 years. It had a grant-funded budget then of only $770,000 and had assessed 3,000 kids. Now, eight years later, it has $13 million in grants, a satellite center in Cadillac, a staff of 15 and has more than doubled its impact. Its assessment methods and structure are the model for eight other trauma assessment centers established by the State of Michigan and for similar centers in Colorado. Its staff has provided training in childhood trauma and trauma assessment, secondary traumatic stress and crisis trauma response to more than 150,000 individuals across the state and beyond.

To say that what the five founders — James Henry, Ben Atchinson, Mark Sloane, Yvette Hyter and Connie Pond-Black — created has had an impact is an understatement. Their work has made lives better for thousands of kids and their families across the state. It’s very much like that ripple in the pond: better lives mean mentally healthier kids, which mean decreases in child suicide, substance abuse, violence and crime.

I was honored to be the one to revisit CTAC to write our cover story in this issue. It was written as part of the Mental Wellness Project — a solutions-journalism initiative of the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative, which is composed of 12 local media outlets that have come together to improve local news coverage in our community. For the past two years this project has explored mental health issues in Southwest Michigan with an eye on what is working and what is yet to be done. This important journalism work has been supported by a generous grant from the Solutions Journalism Network and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. I invite you to see all the outstanding reporting and stories that this project has produced at swmichjournalism.com. It is reporting that is critical to our community and deserves wider appreciation and awareness as it spotlights what high-quality local news coverage can achieve.

As Encore turns 50 this year, we are proud of our half-century of being one of our community's trusted news sources. Thank you to all of you who support Encore by reading, subscribing and patronizing our advertisers, because it is you who have allowed us to continue to do this critical work. With your support, we will continue to do it for years to come.

Publisher encore publications, inc

Editor marie lee Designer alexis stubelt

Photographer brian k powers

Contributing Writers kalloli bhatt, lynn houghton, marie lee

Copy Editor margaret deritter

Advertising Sales janis clark, janet gover, krieg lee

Distribution robert zedeck ron kilian

Office Coordinator kelly burcroff

Proofreader hope smith

Encore Magazine is published 12 times yearly. Copyright 2023, Encore Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial, circulation and advertising correspondence should be sent to: www.encorekalamazoo.com

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The staff at Encore welcomes written comments from readers, and articles and poems for submission with no obligation to print or return them. To learn more about us or to comment, visit encorekalamazoo.com. Encore subscription rates: one year $36, two years $70. Current single issue and newsstand $4, $10 by mail. Back issues $6, $12 by mail. Advertising rates on request. Closing date for space is 28 days prior to publication date. Final date for print–ready copy is 21 days prior to publication date.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by those interviewed and published here do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Encore Magazine or the official policies, owners or employees of Encore Publications

Kalloli says she was surprised by her interview with Kim Shaw, the program director of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.

"For someone who is directing a lot of events throughout the year, making time to sit with artists to discuss grants and make sure they make the best decisions for themselves is amazing," Kalloli says. "It shows a real dedication to the artists and the community." Kalloli is an Encore intern and a student at Western Michigan University majoring in journalism and digital media.

Let’s Make More Space for YOU!

It isn't often that Marie, the editor of Encore, gets out from behind her desk to put her reporting chops to work, but she had the opportunity to do so with two stories this month. First is the cover story on the impact the Southwest Michigan Child Trauma Assessment Center at Western Michigan University has had on the community, the state and beyond. "It's amazing what five people who care a lot about kids came together to create," Marie says. "The center's growth is evident in its increased funding and number of clients served, but its vital impact is felt in the daily lives of thousands of children helped since its founding and by the families, schools and communities of those children."

Marie also wrote about Kalamazoo Dry Goods and its owner, Rebecca Macleery, for this issue. “Rebecca and I are kindred souls in that we love repurposing little treasures such as buttons, chandelier crystals and trinkets," Marie says. "But her shop takes that to a whole new level with its deadstock fabrics, natural fibers and art supplies. Her ingenuity and creativity are inspiring."

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