Four social recreation programs received $726,665 of mental health millage funding through Community Mental Health Ottawa County (CMHOC) in fiscal year 2023. Their contracts were up for renewal during the September 25, 2023 CMH board meeting. In order to ensure taxpayer money is being spent wisely, the board voted to provide three months of funding for these programs while they formed a small committee to review the programs.
Heritage Home Social Rec Program $216,000
IKUS R.E.C. Connect $138,500
Momentum Center $290,800
Pioneer Resources LARC $81,365
During the December 18, 2023 CMH meeting, funding for these programs was once again part of the agenda. A subcommittee had been formed to research the taxpayer funded social-recreational programs, but different unplanned personal issues affected the subcommittee, and they had not yet held their final meeting. Rather than provide a single month of funding, some board members wanted to provide funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. The discussion got very heated and after a four-to-four vote failed to provide nine-months of funding to all four programs, a subsequent resolution for six months of funding passed. Here is the rest of the story.
At each of the three meetings that followed the September 25, 2023 CMH meeting to review social recreation programs, Momentum Center members and volunteers loaded onto a bus and attended the CMH meetings to give public comments in support of their social recreation program. From the comments, it was obvious that a small group of people depend on and clearly enjoy the time they spend at the Momentum Center. Notably, no members or representatives from the other three social recreation programs spoke at the CMH meetings.
During the December 18, 2023 CMH meeting, there were over 40 public comments, most of which addressed Momentum Center funding concerns. At this meeting the board had the opportunity to hear from members of the public who were in favor of, and opposed to funding the Momentum Center. Those opposed to funding the Momentum Center were concerned about the political activism, ideological activities, and social experimentation that has taken place there. Like at the previous two meetings, those in favor of providing funding to the Momentum Center were primarily Momentum Center members, employees, and volunteers. Some of the commenters were angry and demanded funding, but many believed in the programs offered by the Momentum Center. In my opinion, the members provided the most persuasive arguments, sharing their personal experiences.
Judy Michmerhuizen is one such member. She stated,
(1:11:28) “I just had a procedure done Friday; my throat, my stomach, and it was really helpful for my friends to have somebody to talk to at Momentum, and even when I got home Friday everybody called me to see how everything went, and that’s what the Momentum means to me. It’s friendship and keeping in touch when we need each other the most. And sometimes I need a lot of support right now because it’s the holidays, and I don’t have much family left, and I’ve just been thinking of suicidal a lot. It comes to my mind, so I can be with my family. [] and the Momentum’s been helping me, and I go to CMH in Grand Haven [] and they help me out a lot.”
Jenna Vipond, a Momentum Center employee, attempted to justify some of the ideological activities by providing clarification regarding the affinity groups.
(1:10:10) “I wanted to share another thing about the affinity groups. CMH just requires us to provide social and recreational activities. [] In one creative way, we wanted to bring in other people from the community with these affinity groups. So, we started a stay-at-home mom group for stay-at-home moms to bring their kids in to do yoga. That class was just for those people; so that people with disabilities or mental health would not think that they could just come to that activity. So, the LGBTQ group is a place for people who identify to come in and do social and recreational programs without worrying about who else is going to be there. These other groups are just a way to reach more people. [] There’s no therapy, there is not counseling, there is no support involved in them.”
Bruce Gordon is involved in art and sketch programs at the Momentum Center. He appeared agitated when he gave his public comment.
(1:13:18), “In regard to your undocumented information, and hearsay, come in, and spend a day, and look at that program on a visceral level. Look at it in detail. Look at it in scrutiny, instead of all these undocumented generalizations, and pseudo-moral implications. And I will point you two people out [two citizens who gave previous comment]. This program is going to stay open. Stop taunting, and stop playing with us in regards to funding. I don’t know what your motives are. All procrastination, and needless bureaucracy, what’s the motive? I gotta ask a non-rhetorical question. Is it to let you know that you’re in charge of us? You’re not. We will get funding, because we, because you are dispensable. So cut the needless bureaucracy, and stop letting us know that you’re in charge, and be careful of your motives in threatening to take our funds away. Momentum members have mental and physical needs and necessities. Understand that? Visual art is what I promote in the program. [] Do the right thing and continue to fund me.”
Another commenter appeared upset.
(1:47:40) “By kicking the can down the road, [] all you’re doing is hurting the people you claim to want to help. Fund the Momentum Center for a full year, as you always have, as you should. Stop the games.”
Christi Meppelink was not in favor of funding the Momentum Center, and had several concerns.
(58:28) “The Momentum Center [] opened almost seven years ago when Ottawa County CMH created a request for proposals for social and recreational opportunities. The Momentum Center responded acting as though it was a grass roots group of citizens who recognized the community need, and not funded behind the scenes by CMH.
It operates under the name Momentum Center, but the business name is actually Extended Grace. [] In the proposal paperwork, Extended Grace is identified as a ‘social lab’ that focuses on social justice as well as a new expression of a previous church to help marginalized people. According to details from the proposal, Extended Grace had been working with CMH for over a year in preparation for creating the Momentum Center. That doesn’t sound like grass roots to me.
Once the Momentum Center was established, they planned to be self-sustaining, but they still are relying on the county’s continuing support. My understanding is that the Momentum Center receives over $22,500 per month in taxpayer funding and the Momentum Center receives a significant amount of funding from the Grand Haven Community Foundation.
The leader of the Momentum Center calls herself the sex-minister. The patrons of the center are consistently being mixed into groups that aren’t appropriate, without qualified oversight, [] which has resulted in police intervention. These people are at high risk, and the sexual education that’s taking place there, there is no reason to put ideas into their heads that they aren’t mentally equipped to handle. Why is the Momentum Center fixated on blending the boundary lines? Why are people being used as social experiments?
It’s stunning to me that Ottawa County and generous citizens through donations to organizations such as the Grand Haven Community Foundation would vote in, using taxpayer funds to support a social network, when there are so many other needs in the county. It was clearly created through a behind-the-scenes partnership with a referral system that benefits various organizations and claims to help the mentally ill and developmentally challenged, even though it does not employ any licensed counselors, and focuses on anti-American forms of social justice.
CMH is currently evaluating this program to determine if the contract should be extended for another year. We must ask, what are the personal counts of this ongoing social lab that exploits the needs of our most vulnerable. As a taxpayer, I urge you to vote no and let this organization be self-funded without using county tax funds for a social movement.”
Virginia Greenlee questioned the role of the government. (51:28),
“The Momentum Center actually started out as a church. [] There is a place for the church and there is a place for the government. [] Is it really the government’s job to do it all? [] It’s sort of not fair for the Momentum Center to get $24,000 dollars a month. [] There are other churches that could vie for some money. Is it the government’s place to help fund help 501C3’s.”
Two parents of special needs children provided their perspective.
Sarah Westhuis stated
(1:28:10), “I have a daughter, 37, that is a member of CMH. She goes to a day program twice a week. I would not send her to the Momentum Center. She has developmental disabilities and the child-like mind of an innocent child. I wouldn’t want her to be exposed to what they are trying to teach there. [] Yes they all need a program, but they don’t need ideologies pushed on them, and to be used. My daughter does go to a social program and she is happy with that one. So, there are other programs out there that they can go to.”
Beth VanHoven stated
(1:32:20), “I’m not talking morals here, I’m talking propaganda. [] I have a 36 year-old developmentally disabled. He’s dual diagnosed and he needs a place to go. Not this place. I left a hospital because of DEI and this push for anti-racism. My child doesn’t need that. He doesn’t identify colors of skin. If you want to do good by these kids, do something honest and straightforward; not the propaganda that goes with it.”
Barbara Lee VanHorssen, the Experi-mentor of the Momentum Center, took the opportunity to ask for more funding and acknowledged her start-up partnership with CMH.
(1:33:00), “I want to thank CMH for trusting us with the care and delivery of the social and recreational program you helped design. We took our direction from the work of the mental illness task force and the contract we entered into with CMH. [] Month after month we hear this board discuss the lack of resources to meet the needs of our community. If anything, you should be considering increasing your investment in the Momentum Center as a cost-effective way to serve more people in our county. We would also be happy to expand our services into other parts of the county that are also identified as being underserved, should we be given the resources to do so. While we’ve seen tremendous success with this model and wish to share it with other municipalities across the country, we understand that this board may be rethinking some of the parameters of the program.”
CMH board member Steven Rockman provided his perspective on the social recreational programs.
(3:21:18), “I’m on the steering committee and frankly I’ve seen enough. I’m ready to vote right now. Based on my review, Heritage, IKUS, Pioneer; I have no problem with them. I would just cut off the Momentum Center and I could go into great detail explaining why.”
Commissioner Gretchen Cosby seemed to agree with Rockman
(3:24:48). “I did go to IKUS, I heard about Heritage and Pioneer and I think that those are more traditional models for social rec, and Momentum Center is not a traditional model. [] I was incredibly impressed with IKUS and Indian Trails, and I heard no concerns from the constituents. Momentum Center, because of its mixed milieu, the constituents are concerned. [] Momentum Center is not going to go away if the millage steering committee determines that they want to fund it differently.”
Board member Dave Parnin did not seem to understand the concerns of several members of the public.
(3:31:45), “There is an underlying theme that I keep hearing about this attempt to indoctrinate people’s lives. That they are secretly turning them into socialists or communists or something. It’s like come on people. These are adults. They should be making their own decisions. I don’t know what we’re trying to do here. It is a best practice in mental health to provide psycho-social rehabilitation services to this population of people. It’s a best practice. That means, it’s been proven, it’s been studied, there are double blind studies behind it, so we can come in with our theories of what is going on, and it’s not backed up by science.”
The problem with this argument is that the Momentum Center calls itself a social lab and during the June 26, 2023, Ottawa County Community Mental Health board meeting Experi-mentor Barbara Lee VanHorssen explained that they are in fact being funded to do social experiments.
(33:20) “We have submitted our first article to a peer reviewed journal and are anticipating publication. [] We are continuing research with MSU on testing something that’s called SIERA. It’s an intervention and emotional regulation that has been used successfully with people on the autism spectrum, and we are using it with people with mental illness. We ran our first pilot group. It went really well. We were able to get some feedback to MSU about some changes that we suggested, but we have members using the stuff that they learned. It’s great. [] July 10th, we start the non-pilot version. And we have some funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to pay for that, which is exciting.”
In the end, the board voted to fund all four social recreational programs for six months ending June 30, 2024. So many questions remain.
How much money does it take to run a social recreational program?
Why is political and social activism being incorporated into a program that provides social recreation for vulnerable individuals with taxpayer funding?
What social experiments are being conducted at the Momentum Center? Are the members aware they are being studied? What is the goal of these experiments?