Common Ground Media
Vital journalism moving communities forward. Because progress starts when we find common ground.
FromCommonGround.com
Part of the Issue Media Group network of publications
- With The Guarantee, students who do not receive a job offer, or are not accepted into a professional school or graduate program within six months from graduation, can receive $2,000 of financial support. This money can help with student loan payments, continuing the job search, or other needs.
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- Reposted by Common Ground MediaSolar farms can be havens for rare plants. Just ask the threecorner milkvetch.
- This Florida program gives young people opportunities to practice and develop the skills adults often assume they already know: introductions, eye contact, asking thoughtful questions, thinking on their feet, and making a genuine connection with someone they’ve just met.
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- When young people come into contact with law enforcement, the consequences can shape the rest of their lives. In one community, new partnership between the sheriff’s office and a local health center aims to change that trajectory.
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- Hidden Harvest helps restaurants and grocery stores reduce waste while feeding families in the Great Lakes Bay Region. They send trucks out into the region to gather surplus food from more than 300 donors and distribute it to nearly 200 food pantries, soup kitchens, and agencies that feed people.
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- The career of Mexican-born violist Sarai Aboites-Nunez, Operations Manager of Battle Creek’s Music Center, highlights how U.S. immigration policy affects internationally trained artists who contribute to American cultural life.
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- The last year has been particularly challenging for arts organizations, which are facing declining corporate support, reduced government funding, and rising operational costs. But this station’s role as a cultural connector is more important than ever.
- In 2026, two powerful art installations celebrating creativity and community come to the Tampa Bay region. The two initiatives are different in scale and format, but share a common purpose – using art as a catalyst for connection, resilience, and hope.
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- “American Sampler” examines how artists and activists have expressed political dissent, with a particular focus on social movements from the ’50s to the ‘70s.
- “Policy can change quickly but families’ needs do not,” says Camarrah Morgan, board treasurer for Detroit Champions for HOPE.
- With freezing weather gripping parts of the country, communities are opening doors to ensure their neighbors' safety.
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- Galilea Bahena is a first-generation college student and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and she's helping to preserve and share the history of Hispanic businesses in West Michigan, ensuring that their stories are remembered for generations to come.
- As events on the national stage seem to spin out of control, an antidote to the chaos is connecting with neighbors to get something done on the local level.
- A partnership between Northern Michigan University’s Engineering Technology Department and three area companies is strengthening Marquette’s position as a center of medical device manufacturing in the Midwest.
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- Some good news via our sister publication in Tampa Bay: when completed, the Green Spine will be a nearly 3.5-mile, two-lane, protected bike route that connects neighborhoods *and* links up to the community's expanded riverwalk.
- “We envision a future where the internet is a public commons. Our goal is to help communities design and govern their own digital ecosystems.” -CommunityInternet Executive Director Dr. Ron Suarez
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- Wheel the World helps travelers find accessible hotels, restaurants, and activities. Kalamazoo, which installed the nation's first cub cut in 1945 to help disabled WWII veterans, recently secured its spot on Wheel the World's list of verified-accessible destinations. Here's how, and what it means:
- Over three decades since the ADA’s adoption, certain parts of daily life for those with disabilities remain difficult due to infrastructure that has not yet been updated, including sidewalks and intersections. Here's how some communities are gathering critical data to inform updates:
- Our sister pub The Hub Springfield is honored to be part of a team reporting on the true, vital impact of the Haitian community in Springfield, OH: @thehaitiantimes.bsky.social @newmarkjplus.bsky.social
- 🌱 Students in this new program are getting their hands dirty—and preparing for the green jobs of the future.
- The city of Houghton, the city of Ironwood, and the village of Baraga are taking steps to upgrade their water systems:
- "Research consistently shows that music strengthens neural pathways, improves memory, enhances mood, and builds social connection. Experts point to the benefits of music for mental health, cognitive resilience, and social connection, areas where many adults report gaps."
- From our friends at @planetdetroit.org: "The project aims to reduce isolation, foster solidarity, and create visible spaces of mourning and resistance."
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- Independent restaurants provide accessible jobs, anchor blocks in transition, and shape neighborhood and cultural identity—but many operate on razor thin margins. Greater Cincinnati has come up with a unique solution: the Chowdown Cares Fund. Read more in our sister pub, @soapboxcincy.bsky.social:
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- Looking for meaningful local stories out of Flint? Read editor Xzavier Simon's letter to his community, and subscribe to Flintside for a year of on-the-ground reporting, op-eds, columns, and first-person perspectives on issues like education, housing, health, transportation, youth, and biz:
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- For decades, Fair Oaks Park has been a cornerstone of the East Tampa community. Children played, neighbors gathered, and generations built memories. But time took its toll on the aging community center building, and the City of Tampa needed a larger, modern facility to meet the community need:
- Michigan reports record-breaking prekindergarten enrollment this year. Classrooms like this show what that growth looks like at the local level and how expanded access to preschool is changing early education:
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- When one social worker noticed that parents of children with special needs often felt alone, she helped create a playgroup designed for these families. A year later, that playgroup has become a community of understanding and friendship.
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- Arboretum Detroit will build a “filter forest” to protect against pollution. Detroit Horse Power is creating a more natural environment for a new youth equestrian facility. And in Woodbridge, funding will strengthen connections between a new affordable housing development and the neighborhood.
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- Five years after the first modern Women & Girls Study in Allen County, a new 2025 update from the Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne shows troubling declines in women’s economic security. Yet alongside these data points are solutions that employers and community leaders can act on immediately.
- The club’s mission is to support the development of the Black community, promote justice and peace, raise the standard of the home and the quality of family life, promote the education of women and girls, and support equal opportunity in all areas of employment.
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- From our sister publication, Route Bay City, some of the year's top stories. Highlights: 🥕 Former migrant worker offers a lifeline to families 🔋 City exceeds state goals for clean energy 🐟 The sturgeon resurgence ⚕️ Local high school gets a health center 👨👩👧 Community & family literacy efforts
- 🧘♀️ A Studio Built on Friendship and Community 🍬 A Long-Awaited Dream Turned Local Favorite 🥐 One Hundred Years of Tradition, Carried Forward by a Local Family Local businesses in this town are generating economic development and creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, and connected:
- In a city known for its resilience and unmistakable culture, Flint’s comedy scene has often wandered from open mic to open mic, still longing for a place to truly call home. Meet JeCorey Hawkins, the local comedian seeking to build a dedicated comedy space in downtown Flint:
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- Research shows that many students don't buy required textbooks and take fewer courses because of textbook costs. One community college has a plan to address this burden, and their program saved students more than $2.7M just last year.
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- Hunger doesn’t discriminate by geography. In rural areas, lack of transportation and broadband internet access can create barriers for those who need a helping hand—but mobile food pantries and student backpack programs can help meet the need:
- One common thread we see again and again in successful housing solutions: collaborative efforts. They take time and care, but they translate to projects with community buy-in and a higher chance of success.
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- How one small town turned a dingy wall into a community connection point:
- The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) is leading a statewide effort to expand care for new mothers struggling with postpartum depression and other perinatal mood disorders:
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- The Peoples Action has a simple philosophy: people have the power to fix their own neighborhoods when they’re given the tools and trust to do so.
- Each participant in FOCUS Forward collaborates with a case manager and resilience coach to develop an Individual Development Plan that includes education, job readiness, and emotional well-being goals. Participants are also supported by clinicians and behavioral health specialists.
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- Launching in the spring semester of 2026, Clark State’s modeling and simulation program will prepare students for careers in healthcare, aviation, cybersecurity, gaming, national defense, logistics, environmental science, advanced manufacturing and more.
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- From our friends at WMCU Public Radio:
- Millions of people have used at-home DNA kits to learn about their ancestry. But... then what? The Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center, one of the US's largest public genealogy collections, offers free consultations, helpful books, and support for navigating unexpected discoveries.
- Appalachia Ohio is beautiful, but starved for resources like healthcare and transit. Dragonfly Village will offer wellness services, recreation, child care, workforce development, and addiction treatment for women who have suffered trauma. Via @soapboxcincy.bsky.social
- "Allegan County officials knew broadband was more than a convenience: it was a lifeline for education, healthcare, work, and safety."
- Catching the Dream Learning Center is the first Burmese-language early childhood program in a region where thousands of Burmese refugees and immigrants have resettled over the past decade.
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- Independent restaurants across Northern Kentucky often operate on razor-thin margins. To help, Horizon Community Foundation has launched the Chowdown Cares Fund, a new initiative designed to provide stabilization support for independent restaurants in need. Read more in Soapbox Cincinnati:
