GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On Leonard Street is a tune often heard by people walking by Muse GR.
“Music is something that motivates generations to move in a better direction.
This interactive art gallery is a place where many young people have found direction.
“Like you at 17, so you are on the brink of, like, being legal for some things. So you're like, you want to see how many things you can get away with illegally before you get caught,” Tyrell J. said.
Tyrell explained that Muse GR helped him become the person he is today after he completed the program several years ago.
“Just by helping me focus like when I got into this program. I mean, I didn't really have much time to do anything else, other than to come in the studio and make music,” Tyrell said.
One person behind this effort is Stephen Smith.
“We would have writing sessions, and they would create songs that were based on feelings that they had or solutions that they had, and they would get really into it,” Muse GR Co-Founder Stephen Smith said.
Smith and his wife are among many working to end violence in the City of Grand Rapids.
“We're calling freestyle Fridays,” Smith said. “You come in on a Friday night when you could be out doing something else with your friends, but we invite you into the space to come learn a different creative technique.”
W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded the city $550,000 to help in those efforts.
“For several years, the city has been engaged in working to make Grand Rapids a place where all people feel safe and are safe at all times,” Grand Rapids Oversight And Public Accountability Managing Director Brandon Davis said.
The city adds this money to hiring staff members to advance and support civilian-led strategies that reduce violence.
“It also allows some sub-granting. We can say, ‘Hey, what are the programs that you're working on? How do we support those programs? Help you build them out and move in a way forward so that we can all work together to do some violence prevention work,’” Davis added.
That staff member will partner with and provide further support to the SAFE Taskforce, Cure Violence Grand Rapids, the Public Safety Committee, and many others in the community.
“This position will allow us to do some of that, to get out in the community, to connect organizations who are doing great work, and to support that work. There are also people who have great ideas, and they're just looking for a little structure, support, and funding to help them get those ideas off the ground,” Davis said.
Ideas, like those in the community, can make a difference.
“Thank God that I found Muse before I did get caught, because it was a lot of things on the line, and I had a lot of talent, and I'm happy that it didn't go to waste,” Tyrell said.
The city police chief noted a year-over-year reduction in crime and thanked local community heroes for their contributions.
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