At Alliance Française de Détroit / French Institute of Michigan (AFD/FIM), we have been sharing our love for the French language and culture here in Michigan for over 40 years.

The Alliance Française de Détroit / French Institute of Michigan is proud to be part of the world’s largest network of French language schools and cultural centers. A network with over 830 independently run committees established in 133 countries teaching over 550,000 students. The Fondation Alliance Française, based in France, www.fondation-alliancefr.org, is the moral and legal reference of Alliances Françaises. 

The Alliance Française de Détroit / French Institute of Michigan is also part of the Federation des Alliances Françaises USA, a non-profit organization which supports its members to fulfill their mission. www.afusa.org.

Exalta Health, formerly Health Intervention Services, is a faith-based nonprofit healthcare center that offers accessible, compassionate care for the whole person.

We primarily serve the uninsured, underinsured, and refugee community in West Michigan. Our integrated healthcare model—including physical, vision, dental, behavioral, and spiritual care services—are provided to our community, promoting wellness for all.

Founded in 1978, the goal of the Hispanic Center is to provide unmet social services to the Hispanic Community in Greater West Michigan.

Located in the heart of the Roosevelt Park, the largest Latino neighborhood in Grand Rapids, the Hispanic Center is able to directly serve more than 30,000 individuals annually. Not limited to Grand Rapids, we seek to address the needs of Latinos in West Michigan. The staff is largely bilingual and multi-cultural. We understand our Latino neighbors, connect with them, and work to achieve self-sufficiency together.

The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan is a non-profit, community-based organization.

The Kent County Health Department is responsible for continually assessing the health of the community and ensuring that certain services are available and accessible for its citizens. To this end, the Health Department investigates the causes of disease, epidemics, morbidity and mortality, and environmental health hazards using vital and health statistics for epidemiological studies. KCHD also plans and implements public education and enforces public health laws.

The Kent County Health Department offers internship opportunities for those studying Spanish, with an emphasis on those students who are also in a health/medical program.

See the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures Certificate in Spanish for Healthcare Professionals to see how you can better speak the language of care by studying at Grand Valley.

Officially incorporated in March of 1996, RPM is a separate non-profit organization responsible for its own program development and funding. That same year Roosevelt Park Ministries worked in partnership with the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association to complete a neighborhood survey to assess the needs of area residents. The results pinpointed the areas of highest need as the following:

• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• Literacy
• Teen/Youth Programs
• Family Enrichment Services

Today, Roosevelt Park Ministries reaches out to residents of both the Roosevelt Park neighborhood and the surrounding area in a wide variety of ways. Some of the new programs we have added include: Spanish classes for native English speakers; Career Camp for middle school kids; free tax preparation in partnership with the IRS and Kent County Tax Credit Coalition; professional counseling with Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and parenting classes with Lutheran Child and Family Services; and cooking and exercise classes with the YMCA. For more details about our programs, please see the “Programs/Services” section of their website.

The Refugee Education Center was founded in 2006 by a passionate group of Somali Bantu refugees who, as an ethnic group in their native country, were persecuted and prohibited from receiving formal education.

On arrival to the United States, community leaders recognized the incredible new opportunity to receive education and participate in the community as equals. They organized and created what is now the Refugee Education Center. With a vision of supporting refugee children in West Michigan, they began their new education in a foreign land. Since 2006, the Refugee Education Center’s programs and services expanded to address additional needs of families - serving more than 6,000 refugees along the way.

Throughout the years, our vision has stayed the same. It has been, and is, central to the organization to share the knowledge learned from a first-person perspective of navigating the education system and refugee services, and ultimately supporting the estimated 25,000 refugees in West Michigan to become fully participating members of the community (via these program services) and help create a thriving, multicultural West Michigan community where all have an opportunity to pursue a better future!

The Refugee Education Center is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Grand Rapids, MI.