HOLLAND, Mich. — Out on The Lakeshore waited for months for their grant money to arrive, said executive director Kate Leighton-Colburn.
FOX 17 met with the LGBTQ+ community center in late April at their Holland office. At that time, they hadn’t received the $8,000 they were granted in the summer of 2022.
“The short of it is, we were awarded a $8,000 through a healthy-equity grant. The money was given to the county MPHI, Michigan’s health institute, and the county was the pass through,” Leighton-Colburn said during that interview on April 25. “So they were tasked with awarding this money to area organizations who are working toward health equity access for particularly marginalized communities in the area.”
However, last week Leighton-Colburn stated in a text message to FOX 17 that the chair of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, Joe Moss, signed their memorandum of agreement not with his signature but with the Latin phrase via coactus.
It means “having been forced or compelled.”
Moss, who co-founded the conservative group Ottawa Impact, stated on his website Tuesday his reason for signing with via coactus for OOTL and another nonprofit, 1Cor13 Project, a resource center that specializes in health and healing for the Black community.
“These mini grants highlight much needed process and policy changes in Ottawa County, which I look forward to working on in the future. I originally signed them “vi coactus” to indicate that I am compelled to sign these documents in my official capacity as chair, while I personally do not support these decisions.”
In regards to OOTL, Moss stated:
“The second mini grant is designated for launching a youth tabletop gaming program by Out On The Lakeshore (OOTL). OOTL has said that it is not providing therapy, but its activities are “therapeutically inclined.” I believe the county granting $8,000 for non-therapy gaming in the name of “health” is an unwise use of taxpayer dollars.”
In April, OOTL described the program to FOX 17 and said its benefits are critical for LGBTQ+ youth. Leighton-Colburn said it helps them to develop coping skills and explore their identity in a safe environment.
“It’s not therapy," Leighton-Colburn said. "But it has therapeutic aspects to it and it’s skills-based programming that allows these young people to develop coping mechanisms as they move on and face the big wide world. And especially for LGBTQ+ kiddos, they’re at a higher risk for a lot of different challenges.”
After the interview in April, FOX 17 reached out to county administrator John Gibbs and few others in the county government, requesting interviews and comments. FOX 17 did not hear back.
This week, FOX 17 reached out to Moss, and again to Gibbs and others in the county government requesting interviews and comments and have yet to hear back.
Tuesday night, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners will hold their scheduled meeting. Leighton-Colburn said when she arrived just before 5 p.m. there was already a line.
“We just want people to know we want to be able to do this work and do it well and have the support of the county,” she said in April. “So, it feels like right now we don’t have the support of the county to do that.”
***FOX 17 will be at the meeting Tuesday night and will have a recap in our 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows***
