Representative Hillary Scholten

Dear Neighbor –

I hope you were able to beat the heat a bit this week. I’ve personally never been more grateful for community pools and the cooling waters of Lake Michigan! As if we needed another reason to support our community parks and the Great Lakes, this week gave us one. Despite the heat, we had a great week serving the district. Here’s a look at what we did, and what’s ahead.

Congresswoman Scholten at the site of the new MLK, Jr. Park Lodge

Showing up with action

New things are happening in Grand Rapids on the SE side. This week, I attended the ground-breaking of the brand new community facility at MLK Park and the ribbon cutting of the new coffee shop and retail space for Treetops Collective. The new facility at MLK was made possible by $10.5 MILLION in federal American Rescue Plan funds. I saw firsthand what a critical neighborhood resource the park was during the pandemic. Now, these federal recovery dollars are going to support a space that will help in our long-term recovery– a space for kids to meet with tutors and mentors, adults to take meetings and connect with business prospects, and a gathering space for all of life’s great events

At Treetops, we were so proud to see the completion of an incredible new space on Division that will help new Americans set up roots and create true belonging here. This space was one of my 15 community directed spending projects from last year. I choose these projects based on which ones will do THE MOST good in the community. It was clear to me that the concept of the new welcoming space, will not only impact all who enter and use the space, but an exponential impact in our community by those who go out from the space, and all the lives that THEY touch.

Congresswoman Scholten at Eccentric Bijourterie

I spent the Juneteenth holiday with my team in Muskegon Heights visiting some incredible Black-owned businesses and talking to business leaders about the generational barriers that Black-owned businesses have faced in the area. I’m focused on removing those barriers. At a time when programs aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack, it’s important to take a scalpel, not a sledgehammer, to what’s working and what is not. Ensuring equity in our communities is not about a handout or a government-mandated favor, it’s about REMOVING barriers that have been put in place. True competition requires a level playing field for all.

Congresswoman Scholten at the LGBTQ+ Roundtable

On Thursday, we celebrated Pride Month with a roundtable listening to LGBTQI+ small business owners at the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. I’m the first member of the Equality Caucus from West Michigan, and as part of that role, it’s my job to show up as a voice for the LGBTQI+ community in West Michigan–that means listening and acting. Protecting and expanding the rights of the LGBTQI+ community is important in its own right, but also, bigotry is bad for business. I’m grateful these folks took time for an important discussion about the cultural, emotional, and economic impact of harmful and discriminatory practices against our LGBTQ community–and the positive impact that they’ve seen welcoming practices have on their businesses. We’re moving forward together.

Softball practice

Ahead of my participation in my second Congressional Women’s Softball Game, I had an incredible time practicing in Allendale with members of the Grand Valley State University Softball Team. Sports are such an incredible way to bring us together as a community – and this event represents far more than just fun and games. These young women, Coach Dana Callihan and Athletic Director Keri Becker helped me feel even more ready for the game! We also held a press conference to raise awareness for the good cause we are playing for – breast cancer research. Every Member of Congress plays for a breast cancer survivor, and this year, I’m playing for our neighbor Tammy Myers. She has played an incredibly important role in changing Michigan’s surrogacy laws in the wake of her fight against breast cancer – you can read about her story here.

Corewell Health in Grand Rapids has been an incredible leader in cancer research, and I was glad that Barbara Schmidtman, VP of Cancer Health at Corewell Health, and Yahya Ibrahim, MD, hematologist/oncologist joined our press conference to shine a light on the work that they are doing. We are so lucky to have these health leaders doing lifesaving work right here at home.

Legislative Action

The legislative team in DC keeps working even when I’m back home in the district. This week I cosponsored H.R. 5517, the Increasing Our Nation’s Value Through Economic Support and Tourism in Our Communities Act. Stay tuned for amendments that I am supporting as we continue to work through appropriations bills next week.

The Week Ahead

It’s a big week next week in Washington – it’s game day for the Congressional softball team AND I’ll have a couple of very special visitors in town with me. On the business side of things, we’ll have Transportation Secretary Buttigieg before the T&I Committee to talk about the DOT’s budget.

ICYMI:

One of my community projects I secured federal dollars for in FY24 announced an exciting update for both athletes and sports lovers here in West Michigan. Read more here!
West Michigan is representing in a big way with FOUR coaches being inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame this year! Congrats!
West Michigan has gone global! International students are looking to do exchange trips to our little corner of the world – find out more on how to become a host family here!

- Congresswoman Scholten

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