About Grand Rapids Southeast Promise Neighborhood

Our Story

Inspired by the work of Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children’s Zone, a Promise Neighborhood is a community, place-based initiative that brings together schools, community organizations, businesses, and stakeholders to provide Cradle to Career opportunities and resources to children and families. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation, Promise Neighborhood grants target urban, rural, and tribal communities, creating opportunities to provide academic, social, emotional, and health-related supports that target 10 key success indicators.

GRSEPN, Grand Rapids Southeast Promise Neighborhood Project, is one of 8 Promise Neighborhood grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2021. Under the direction of Western Michigan University Faculty, Dr. Patricia Reeves and Dr. Jianping Shen, the GRSEPN grant was written to target the southeast quadrant of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The project consists of a partnership between various organizations and Grand Rapids Public Schools, focused on implementing a coordinated and aligned system of evidence-based strategies to provide students with a high-quality birth-to-career educational experience. 

We work with our evaluation partner to measure and share the impact and efficacy of our work on our dashboard.