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This is "Living West Michigan."

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(bright music) - You know that phrase, "Bouncing off the walls"?

Well, that's exactly what the kids can do at our first fun find of the day.

Rebounderz in Jenison is an indoor trampoline park offering play all day and giving back to the community through local fundraisers.

Kylie is here to help us jump into the mix.

- Whether it's arcade games, hopping on a trampoline or tackling the area's largest American Ninja Warrior of course, Rebounderz in Jenison has fun for all.

I am so excited to take you along, let's go.

We are here with Rich from Rebounderz and Rebounderz is supposed to be a trampoline arena, but looking around, you have so much more.

Can you talk to me about what's all going on here?

- We just passed our eighth anniversary, so we've been around here for a little while.

When we opened up, we were primarily a trampoline park.

After a year, we opened up our Ninja Warrior course, which is right behind us.

And then the year after that, we added a laser tag arena, which is pretty large.

And then through the years we've done other things like mini escape rooms.

We have a blacklight mini golf course, which is a lot of fun.

There's just a lot of different activities, primarily trampolines with the dodge ball and basketball and foam pit and that sort of thing.

- When you started this, you said eight years ago, what made you wake up and say, "I want to get into this business 'cause it looks so fun."

- Yeah, well I think that's what we thought.

My business partner and I, we go way back.

We went to college together and we have had younger kids at the time and had seen kind of a need in this area for a facility like this.

I was in a totally unrelated field and he was in a totally unrelated field, but we decided to give it a try and thought it sounds like fun and how hard can it be?

It is been quite a journey.

We've learned a lot.

It's a lot harder than what we thought it was gonna be.

A lot goes into it, but yeah, it's been a great eight years.

- Having younger children, I'm sure you were no stranger then to knowing how much energy they have and energy that needs to be burned throughout the day.

How does this space help with both the physical and mental stimulation?

- Parents love bringing their kids here 'cause they know they're going to get a good workout and they know they're going to work out some of that nervous energy.

And we have a lot of parents that take their younger kids here for a little while, then they go home and they go down for a nap and they think that's awesome.

- We're through the Ottawa ISD Young Adult Services.

So we have our students come out in the community and do different activities.

So today, it was Rebounderz.

And a lot of our students have different needs.

Some of it could be sensory needs, so this is nice for them to jump around and get some wiggles out.

And also an activity that they could do with their families.

- They like the ball pit.

Helping them do the obstacle course and it's just, yup, just something different.

- So we plan out the activities for a whole year and this is one of the activities we do every year is come to Rebounderz and they all love it.

- Hey, dad.

Hey, mom.

- I'm doing the trampolines first, then the foam pit, then the ninja course with the obstacle course and I tried the dodge ball.

- When we talk about all the things you have to offer, it sounds exciting to me.

I know you primarily cater to youth, but is there fun to be had for like all ages here?

- It really spans the whole spectrum.

We have toddlers, we have a lot of school-aged kids, but we do lock-ins for high school groups and college groups.

And then we have corporate events as well.

And there is something for everybody.

I mean, this ninja course is very challenging.

I know I can't do all the levels.

- And you have the area's largest American Ninja Warrior course.

Is that correct?

- Yeah, there isn't anything as large as this one, you know, indoors.

There's many different obstacles for all different ability levels.

Everything from the smaller kids there.

There's a 44-inch height requirement for it.

So we do have some young kids on it.

It's fun to see them go through.

And we have a warped wall at the end and when they make it up on top of that, you can tell that it's really rewarding for them to complete it.

- You also do a lot, I think, in giving back to the community.

Can you talk with me about the fundraisers that you host?

- Yeah, for sure.

In fact, today, we have a fundraiser coming in.

We have schools or groups or whoever's interested in raising a little bit of money for their cause.

And we will have a group, they'll market it within their network and try to get as many people to come out as possible.

Basically, they pay their admission and we track that and we kick back 25% of all the admission seats.

We've written some pretty good sized checks for that.

So yeah, it's been really good.

- That's amazing.

How does that feel to be able to give back to the community that, that comes in here and supports you?

- Yeah, I mean, we love the community.

It's been great to us and it is awesome to be able to give back and see people real thankful for, you know, that we can work together and try to improve each other.

- My last question, there's so much to do here.

It's kinda a hard one, but what's your favorite?

- (laughs) Well, that is a tough, yeah, as I've gotten older, I don't do the ninja course as much as I used to, but we just added a couple golf simulator suites over here, so.

Didn't talk about that yet, but that's awesome.

They're really high tech, very accurate.

And I'm just as bad on these as I am a regular golf course.

So they're really good and I think that's probably what I enjoy most.

But that's me personally.

I think probably the most popular thing at this point is probably the ninja course with maybe the dodge ball and the foam pit not being too far behind.

- Perfect.

Well it definitely sounds like there's something for everyone.

Thanks so much for taking the time to chat today.

- My pleasure.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Switching gears now to a special place in West Michigan that is offering a bit of hope to some who feel hopeless, it is The Deborah House.

Over the years, they have helped women in need go from living in their car to having a home of their own, from desperation to determination.

The Deborah House works in local communities to support single mothers providing vital things like food, housing, childcare, and much more.

The group hopes to help women navigate through poverty, poor healthcare, and abusive relationships.

So join me as we meet the powerful women inside The Deborah House.

Pastor Doriane thanks so much for joining us today to talk about the Deborah House and the Deborah House Project.

In 2011.

You started the Deborah Project.

What was behind that and what was the need that you saw to make you feel like you needed something like that in this community?

- Well, I had been pastoring about a decade at that time and working with families throughout the community and I began to notice a lot of single parent families falling through the cracks, not having basic needs being met.

And so it was at that time that I decided, let's come together, let's provide a support group to encourage, to inspire, to educate and to empower women.

And that's what we began to do.

And I'm telling you, it went from seven women to 300 women in a year's time and it just took off.

So we invited moms and their children to come together on Saturdays.

We provided a hot meal, mentoring, childcare, diapers, household supplies, personal care items, and an inspirational speaker from community to really come and motivate and encourage.

And so that group began to grow and now we feed about 80 moms and kids in every session.

And like I said, we're a family.

We come together, we encourage, we inspire, and we're seeing women get their education, go back to school, get housing, transportation, get on their feet.

And we've seen such positive things come out of this program.

You know, they say it takes a village to raise a child.

And I believe that's true.

We come together as mothers and we encourage and support one another.

- Just being here with the women, it's a beautiful feeling.

You know, just meeting them from the beginning that they come in here and then it's a beautiful fill in when it comes to them leaving here.

I try to create a space where they can be themselves and not to be timid and to know that they have a, you know, for the time that they are here, they don't have to worry about anything because they're off the streets right now.

It's good to know that having a good meal, a place to stay, a warm bed to sleep in knowing that these children are off the streets is very heartwarming.

- There's a story behind The Deborah House.

I was at the Deborah Project and I was handing a mom a box of supplies.

And I thought, "Well, you know, I'm doing a great thing, right?

She's got laundry soap, she's got soap, she's got deodorant, she'll be fine for this week."

And the woman said to me in such a profound way, she said, "Pastor, thank you for the box.

Me and my child are gonna take it to the car 'cause that's where we're sleeping tonight."

And when I heard that and I realized how many families in West Michigan are homeless, the numbers are staggering.

How many mothers and children are sleeping in cars?

The numbers are staggering.

And I'm thinking, I'm going home to my comfortable house and my comfortable bed, but they're gonna sleep in the car tonight with no heat.

And so with that in mind, I just talked to a few women of faith and our board at the church, I said, "Let's start a home.

Let's open a home."

And so we did that in 2015.

It's now 2024 and we've housed over 120 moms and kids today.

And I would say about 90% are successful and go on to safe, affordable housing.

So it's been a life-changing experience here at the Deborah House.

- I ended up homeless with my two kids.

Wasn't easy, I was house hopping for two months before I got here at The Deborah House.

I was questioning myself as a parent, am I'm doing good as a parent to my two girls?

Trying not to get discouraged.

It was scary because I'm a woman with two kids and homeless.

Thinking about where I'm gonna lay my head, where my next meal is gonna come from, where our next bath is gonna come from.

It was just very stressful until I reached out to Deborah House.

- Just knowing their struggle, I just get a little bit emotional because I've been through it before.

And just giving them the love that they need.

Within the time that they're here, they are growing.

And then I see like the determination of wanting to have their own.

So when they're here, it's just like a relaxing feeling where they can have a place of peace.

So while they're here, they are growing, they are finding like jobs, they are trying to find homes.

So once they leave here, they got all the resources to make sure that, you know, I'm not going to go back to that old lifestyle.

I'm gonna go ahead and strive and just move forward.

- I had the dream of always getting my license, my driver's license, and I decided to go forward with that.

I'm getting my GED.

I graduate in June.

I'm also finally be moving into my own home real soon.

- What lights up my heart is seeing women get on their feet.

What lights my heart is seeing women be empowered.

Particularly women of all walks of life and women of color especially because we understand sometimes the statistics, we understand that even for Black women, there's three times more likely to have low birth weight babies.

They're three times more likely to birth stillborn babies.

And so knowing the data out there, seeing women be empowered, having healthy babies getting on their feet, that does it for me.

- Tell us why it is called The Deborah House.

- Deborah was a powerful woman in the Bible, and if you read her story, you know that she was trying to lead.

And as you read the story, you see she had to lead alone in many ways.

And she had to take the helm, she had to do what needed to be done.

And so that word Debra is an encouragement to us as women to sometimes, we have to arise as a single parent and we have to lead and we have to fight for our families to ensure their safety and their health.

- And how important is this, would you say then, with all of that said, to keep this going?

- Well, you know, Deborah is a vision that many of us have and we want to continue the work, we want to see greater support and we wanna see greater resources.

And I have other cities, Jennifer, that are also a part of this program.

Muskegon has a program.

I have some folks in Houston that wanna open a program, some folks in North Carolina.

So we wanna see it not just for West Michigan.

We wanna see it go across the nation and we wanna see women empowered and begin to arise.

- It is just so positive.

Being at The Deborah House, it helped me a whole lot.

It helped me to get to know myself as a young woman, a young lady.

It doesn't stop with me being a mom.

And that's where I was thinking like, me being a mom is just my title.

Being a mom that Deborah House showed me that I'm more than just a mom.

I'm also Octavia.

I'm a woman.

I can be successful and be a mom.

I could be creative and be a mom.

It just opened up a whole bunch of opportunities for myself.

(gentle music) - We of course wanna thank the beautiful women of The Deborah House for taking the time to share with us about the important work that they're doing in our community.

Our next segment is keeping us active and moving.

The YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids is one of West Michigan's leading nonprofits, strengthening the community through youth development, healthy living, and responsibility.

And who better to show us around than our very own cardio queen, Shelley Irwin?

- Did you know there's more to do here at the Y than just ride bikes.

Let's go check out programming for the kids.

(lively music) What does the Y do for kids?

- We just create safe spaces for kids to come and enjoy and just be themselves.

And so I think that's what we love about the Y the most is creating those spaces and those opportunities and giving them new skills to participate in and also just have fun and be themselves.

- How important is just general active play for our kids?

- I think play is probably the most important thing we can provide for kids of all ages.

And so we know that from our littlest babies all the way up to our teenagers that we're making programs for.

And so everything we do is designed around the site concept of play.

And so we want them to be able to learn, but we want them to be able to learn in a hands-on fun way.

- Wanna zone right in on summertime at the Y what's that mean to you?

- Summertime is my favorite time at the Y.

We open up every branch to a school age day camp.

And so it just like brings a lot of life and energy.

It's fast, it's furious and it's fun.

- So describe a a week at a camp.

- Each of our branches offer kind of a different experience.

And so if you're here at the downtown Y, this summer especially, we're really like branching out into the community and using like vendors and different activities.

And so the goal is that every day, the kids are getting out of this building and going somewhere nearby.

If you're at our Mary Free Bed or Wolverine branches, we have a lot more outdoor space and so they spread their camps out and have a lot more different kind of non-traditional outdoor camp like settings, like campfires and that sort of thing.

And then you can also potentially go to our Camp Manitou site.

And so we have day camps there for the summer as well as overnight camp.

And our camp in Cullen, transportation is provided.

And so you will bus from the branches and come there and go back.

- Are healthy snacks provided?

- Absolutely.

And we also do a curriculum called Cook It Up.

And so our campers learn how to cook different kind of recipes.

We try to tailor them to summer so they're a little more fun and convenient with the local ingredients, but they get to learn to cook them and they get to send that recipe home and they get to taste test them and really get exposure to different kind of foods.

(lively music) - Naomi and Nathaniel, I call you superstars because here you are at the Y, getting fit and getting smart.

Talk to me about what you do here - When it's during summertime, we practice like going swimming.

- [Shelley] What are you doing outside?

- [Naomi] We play and play tack.

- What are you doing outside, Nathaniel?

- We just play with like the bikes and I like to go on the slides.

- [Shelley] Do you do some swimming?

- Yeah, I do some swimming.

- What's your favorite field trip that you've gone on?

- Going to the zoo in its summertime.

It's like fun because you can see all different kind of animals.

- [Shelley] Tell me about the friends you're making.

- I'm making a lot of friends.

(lively music) - I know there's nothing like open water swimming, but what are the pools?

What do we attract in pools all year round?

- Yeah, so the pools are a great advantage, right?

That is why we go to a lot of people come to the Ys for access for that pool and also safety around water.

And so we provide swim lessons through our summer camp, but youth are getting in the water with their staff and all of our staff go through aquatic observer training.

And so it's very safe and we, you know, give them an opportunity to just be in the water during the summer and kind of learn some new skills.

It's the Y.

And so we know that safety matters and we know that kids are cared for and we know that staff are trained to do their best when working with youth.

(lively music) - How soon should a child begin to understand what water's like?

- Swimming lessons start as soon as you're ready.

We have a curriculum, but I think some of the most essential parts of swimming are just acclimating your children to the water and letting them know that they're safe and that it is a place where they can enjoy themselves.

- And of course, summertime is pool time, of course, all year round here.

What kind of programs do you give the kids throughout the year?

- Specifically, in the summer, we offer safety around water.

It's also known as saw.

it's a really like crash course type of swimming, but it breaks down a lot of barriers and it's a great way to engage with the community.

- [Shelley] Do you see the kids being themselves in the water?

- [Speaker] It takes a little bit.

There's a little initial shyness and nervousness and fear, but those barriers break down and you get to really see them blossom.

- [Shelley] And do you see this as building a skill that they should be able to keep throughout their life?

- [Speaker] Absolutely.

I think at face value lifeguarding seems kind of simple, but there are a lot of layers to it and there are a lot of soft skills.

Not only vigilance and observation, but also just conversational skills, really valuable.

You run into all different types of people at the pool from all different walks of life.

- How important is it that a little kid takes his or her summertime and turns it into a Y time?

- I think it is one of the best things you can do.

The Y is really a safe space for everyone.

It's become like a second home to meet and an invaluable place to be in.

(lively music) - I imagine if you're an adult kid, it's kinda fun being around the young kids to do your thing.

- Yeah, I mean, I have the best job in the world.

I get to not only see kids every day, but I get to train the staff that work with those kids every day.

I get the opportunity to provide really, you know, nationwide and statewide trainers to come in and work with our staff to promote these opportunities with youth.

And we love everything about it.

- So I bet that pool's never empty.

- It sure isn't, especially not during day camp.

- [Shelley] Thank you Tiffany.

- [Tiffany] You're welcome.

- So, it is flower power time and J Schwanke is in our living West Michigan studio with some bright and cheery ideas to make any flower display pop.

Let's join our friendly neighborhood flower guy for Living in Bloom.

(lively music) - And this theme is all about the power of red.

J Schwanke, you can't get any stronger than red.

- Right, right.

Most powerful color.

- Wow.

Why is that?

- Because it makes, you know, what the color red actually makes our blood pressure get higher, it makes our blood run faster.

So yeah, it it's also considered to be the sexiest color.

- Oh, well that's why I picked red.

- Right, exactly.

I love that.

So we're gonna make an arrangement today.

And I know that you told me that you wanted to know some easy tricks for making a cute little arrangements.

- Yes, easy and I guess precise quick and- - Exactly.

Exactly, exactly.

So I have a little selection of flowers.

We have some spray roses, we have carnations, we have dianthus, and we have hypericum.

And what we're gonna do with these, Shelly, is you've got your selection there.

- Okay, so I've got my pile and you have yours.

- Little bunch of eriostemma is what this is called.

It's beautiful.

We're gonna start by putting that in our hand.

- Right hand, all right.

- And then we're gonna just start adding flowers and making a little bouquet in our hand with those flowers.

- Do I need to worry about trimming or anything at this point?

- You don't, you don't, you don't.

You're just gonna be placing them in your hand in a way that makes you happy.

- What is it I'm smelling?

- You're smelling the eriostemma.

Which is the foliage that we're using.

It's called eriostemma.

- Is there a trick to this?

Does this need to be in the behind or in front?

- I think it needs to be towards the top.

- Okay.

All right.

Towards the Top.

- So maybe in the center.

And so what I do many times is as I make this, I turn it around in my hand.

- Okay.

Well you've done this a couple times.

- I have done it a couple times and so have you.

- Okay, yeah, I have.

Thanks to you, so I should be an expert.

- You are.

There's nothing more pleasurable for me than making a flower arrangement with a friend.

- Yes.

Aren't flowers good for the soul?

- Absolute, just like friends.

Just like friends.

Good for the soul.

And what they do is they make us feel happier.

They make us feel less depressed.

Look at you.

- Finishing up.

- You're doing a great job.

It's wonderful.

- I have the J Schwanke talent going on.

- Okay.

So see, you have a little bouquet like that.

Are you happy with it?

- I'm very happy.

- Okay.

So now what we're gonna do is we have, this is called craft covered wire.

You have a little bit over on your side over there, right?

- Oh, goodness gracious.

Okay.

- We're gonna lay a piece of that under our thumb.

- Oh, this is where it gets hard.

- No.

- Don't look at it that way, Right?

- Right, don't look at it that way.

Okay.

And then we're gonna wrap this around right where our hand was.

- [Shelley] I'm left-handed.

- That's okay.

So you're gonna tie it tight.

- I got my finger in it.

- Okay.

- Okay, okay.

Here we go.

Tie it tight, - Right.

- Oh, nice.

- And we're gonna bind it.

We're just gonna twist it when we get it to that spot.

- Right.

I'm glad you're here to do the final details.

- You doing great, my dear.

You're awesome.

- Right.

Thank you, positive feedback does help.

- Yes.

Okay.

So then take that piece and twist it with that one like a bread twisty.

- Twist that one, okay.

It says twist me.

Okay.

Perfect it's good, okay.

- Okay.

Now see?

We each have a bouquet.

We want our bouquet to sit on top of that, those flowers to sit on top of the edge of our bouquet, right?

- Right.

- So you see where you're gonna...

I'm gonna cut mine here.

- Oh, we're cutting, okay.

- You are gonna cut yours about here.

- It looks silly if it wasn't cut.

(J Schwanke laughing) - But it would be fun, right?

- Yes.

Okay.

- And we're gonna use our bypass cutter.

- You gave me red.

- I gave you a red one because you're powerful.

You're powerful.

You're one of the most powerful women I know.

- Well, there's hashtag more to do.

So here we go.

Okay.

So then, but I bet I need to trim even more.

- [J Schwanke] See, you do.

Very good that you identified that.

- We learn by mistakes.

- Take it up to about there.

- Okay, watch finger.

You ever lost a finger?

- No, all 10 are here.

- You signed the contract though, that's for sure.

If I lose a finger, they grow back.

Okay, I am gonna see where we.

(gasps) - See?

- I wanna be a J Schwanke when I grow up.

Oh, this is actually pretty nice.

- I'm telling you, right?

And if you wanted to come back in and add a couple more flowers, you could do that too.

Whatever you wanna do.

Shelley, you're a star and you're living in Bloom.

That's what we're doing.

- Thank you, J.

- You're welcome.

(lively music) - More content can be found on WGVU's YouTube channel or the PBS app.

Be sure to also check out wgvu.org/livingwestmichigan, where you can submit ideas for future features on the show.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Jennifer Moss and this is "Living West Michigan."

(excited music) (excited music continues)