Milwood Commons was born out of the community service initiatives of Threads Church.
After many conversations with city leaders and extensive surveys of people in the neighborhood, Threads Church first started to engage in the needs of the Milwood neighborhood in 2009. Threads launched several missional communities that each have a specific focus, including:
- Neighborhood Block Parties, open to all who live in the Milwood neighborhood
- Partnering with Greenwood Elementary and Milwood Magnet School to support their efforts to provide a safe, positive learning environment for students, teachers and staff
- Games on the Green, a summer recreation program for kids
- A backpack program providing food for the weekend for students at Greenwood Elementary.
In the fall of 2014, Threads purchased a building and moved from Portage, Michigan into the heart of Kalamazoo’s Milwood neighborhood, providing many new opportunities to listen to, live with and engage the residents and businesses in Milwood.
It was these conversations and relationships that lead Threads to establish Milwood Commons as a separate, secular, non-profit entity focused intentionally on community development initiatives. At this time, Milwood Commons took over the efforts to pursue a preschool and childcare license and took responsibility for the oversight and coordination of the ongoing efforts to provide quality care to families in the neighborhood.
To find out more about Threads Church, visit www.ThreadsChurch.org.
