African Community Center revived by Grand Valley students

A bland, rectangular building in southwest Grand Rapids has been revived and energized to better serve the African Community Center housed within, thanks to the care and work of a group of students and faculty from Grand Valley State University.

A celebratory event will take place at the center, located at 1019 Wealthy SW, on Thursday, October 16, from 4-8 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. The African Community Center will provide a festive atmosphere that coincides with the Wealthy Street Fall Stroll. Hay rides, face painting, pumpkin carving contests and other activities are planned in the back parking lot area of the center.

The center’s executive director, Yaka Kamungi, came to the U.S. as a Congolese refugee in 2000, knowing little English or how to function in a foreign culture. He eventually started his own non-profit organization to assist other African refugees caught in a cycle of poverty and depression. The center distributes food, offers ESL and translation services, women’s support groups, computer training, health and hygiene instruction and community events.

Under the direction of Grand Valley art professors Ed Wong-Ligda and Jill Eggers, two students decided to make the center the focus of their Student Summer Scholars project. The program grants a small budget of funds toward accepted 12-week research or creative projects by students that combine academics, field work and reflective analysis.

Students Dennis Nagelkirk and Carrie Schoenborn began their project by first spending time at the center, getting to know the clients and services. They researched the deplorable conditions most African refugees faced on their journey to the U.S. and the difficulties they face once here.

Nagelkirk and Schoenborn delved right in, doing whatever needed to be done at the center, from answering phones to organizing a cluttered donation closet. Meanwhile they formulated plans to create a more inviting interior and exterior of the building, and organized other students and volunteers to help execute their plans.

They designed and created a large mural covering the outside 60-foot, two-story building depicting scenes from rural African life merging with city scenes and the Grand Rapids skyline. The colorful and inviting treatment was continued inside the building, where the students created a “kids room” repainted with an African landscape, animals and a silhouette area where the children can add their own chalk paintings. The pair also created an art-based approach to teaching ESL classes, using pictures, colors and activities in their creative, interactive lessons for refugees and art classes for children.

Though the Grand Valley students’ projects have been completed, the results will serve for years to come. Their film and photo documentation of the projects will also help inform others about the center’s vital programs and their importance to the greater Grand Rapids community.

For more information about the project, contact Ed Wong-Ligda or Jill Eggers in the Department of Art and Design, (616) 331-3486.