Community Development

Chelsea Area Fire Authority Chief Robert Arbini.

Chelsea firefighters seek help to restore aging fire station

Chelsea Area Fire Authority Chief Robert Arbini is sounding an alarm – but it's not for the type of emergency that most community members might imagine. This time Chelsea's fire station at 200 W. Middle St. is in urgent need of rescue.

Latest in Community Development
The new Commongrounds building on Eighth Street in Traverse City.
Commongrounds uses co-op model to serve missing needs of the community

Traverse City's Commongrounds is a mixed-use building, offering affordable housing, co-working space, a coffee shop, child education center, and performance venue. It's the first real estate cooperative in northern Michigan.

The first page of Jennie D'Ooge's journals.
Read 100-year-old Ypsi gossip at upcoming journal transcription event hosted by EMU and Ypsi library

The public is invited to read some century-old gossip and learn about historic transcription through an event called "Transcribe the Archives: Jennie D'Ooge's Ypsilanti."

Gery and Sarah Kreiner at The Mix Fitness Studios Harriet St. location.
Youth theatre, fitness studio fill former Michigan Works! building in Ypsi

Local businesses are revitalizing the building that formerly housed Michigan Works! Southeast at 332 Harriet St. in Ypsilanti.

Mark Witte
CCBHCs extend mental health care to more Michiganders despite challenges

Michigan was added to the country's list of certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) demonstration states back in the summer of 2020, with 29 counties throughout the lower peninsula operating CCBHCs through their community mental health agencies.

People watch a band play at Fun Fest.
Fun Fest brings music, art vendors, and more back to Ypsi’s Frog Island Park

The fourth annual Fun Fest will feature live music, food trucks, vendors, and a bounce house for kids.

A poster for "Beehive."
Ann Arbor’s Penny Seats Theatre breaks in new home with ’60s-set jukebox musical

The Penny Seats Theatre Company will kick off its 2024-2025 season with a musical paying tribute to female vocalists and musicians of the 1960s, presented in an unconventional new venue.

A ribbon cutting for NAMC's new headquarters in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor defense mobility group opens 7,000 sq. ft. new headquarters

The National Advanced Mobility Consortium has expanded its headquarters in Ann Arbor, strengthening the city's role in Michigan's $30 billion defense industry. 

Members of the Peacenic Ypsi team.
Law enforcement and Ypsi Township community will unite to promote nonviolence in upcoming event

The community picnic-style Peacenic event is inspired by a recent Detroit event of the same name.

FCI Milan GED staff (Front Row L to R) Jessie Culver, Misty Shulters, and Hector Arroyo (Back Row L to R) Brett Ward, Joe Williams, and Herb Fluker.
Two new Michigan Works! programs prepare jail and prison inmates for new careers

Programs at the Hillsdale County Jail and the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan help soon-to-be-released inmates gain GEDs and social-emotional skills that will help them succeed once they're released.

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