Features

Fighting Harder for Local Women and Children

How dwindling Victims of Crimes Act funds are affecting abuse survivors in northern Michigan

By Jillian Manning | Dec. 6, 2025

Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center (TBCAC) has been navigating a particularly challenging year. Though CEO Lander Bachert is proud that her CAC is “one of the best in the state” with “world-class mental health” care for the kids and teens they serve, she’s still seeing a “pretty intense spike of children coming through our doors.” “When … families don’t have access to food, or when they don’t have access to housing, or … Read More >>

Small Acts, Big Impact by Do a Little Good

Meet the NoMi nonprofit doing a little good every day

By Kierstin Gunsberg | Dec. 6, 2025

If you haven’t heard of Elk Rapids’ nonprofit Do a Little Good, it probably wouldn’t surprise president Glori Crowell. When she and a few close friends started the community-focused organization in 2018, their aim wasn’t big media campaigns or gala fundraisers, but quite literally to do a little good by meeting the immediate needs of their neighbors Up North. Those immediate needs are ones that, like the organization itself, fly under the … Read More >>

Protecting the Places We Love: Local Land Conservancies at Work

Five environmental nonprofits share the ups and downs of 2025 and what’s to come in 2026

By Drew VanDrie | Dec. 6, 2025

Northern Michigan is renowned for its expansive natural splendor and broad public access to outdoors spaces. But many of those trails, waterways, and undisturbed natural areas could not exist and persevere without the dedicated effort of several local nonprofit land conservancies. As we round out 2025, Northern Express connected with a handful of these organizations to learn about recent exciting wins, foreseeable obstacles, and future objectives for conservation in northern Michigan. Grand … Read More >>

When Small Conversations Spark Big Change

Nonprofit Love Thy Neighbor and the power of two small words: “Let’s talk”

By Lourin Sprenger | Dec. 6, 2025

The first thing most people notice when they walk into Love Thy Neighbor in Traverse City isn’t the stacks of hand-assembled layettes or the line of donated walkers and wheelchairs. It’s the feeling, an unhurried calm that suggests whoever just arrived isn’t an interruption, but the reason the place exists at all. Matt Chapman, CEO of Love Thy Neighbor, says that nearly every day starts the same way: with a phone call … Read More >>

Traverse City’s Crooked Tree Arts Center Looks Ahead

With continually growing programs and a building in flux, what’s next?

By Ellen Miller | Dec. 6, 2025

Local arts and community center Crooked Tree Arts Center—with locations in Petoskey in Traverse City—has no shortage of offerings from classes to exhibits to shows. And their dedication to cultivating the arts Up North shows. “Our biggest success in 2025 has been seeing increased engagement across all our programs: classes, workshops, and free community offerings,” reflects CTAC President Angela Morris. “It has been exciting to see more people participating and connecting with … Read More >>

Grief Support Up North

In 2026, Michael’s Place will celebrate 25 years of showing up for the community

By Ren Brabenec | Dec. 6, 2025

According to a WebMD survey, about 57 percent of Americans experienced a major loss in the last three years, and loss goes hand-in-hand with grief. Grief is not just an emotion. Health problems associated with grief include depression, anxiety, and heart disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, bereaved individuals are at higher risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack), especially in the initial days following a loss. Perhaps most frustrating … Read More >>

Film Review: The Alabama Solution

By Joseph Beyer | Dec. 6, 2025

With the holiday season of “peace on earth and goodwill toward men” upon us, it may shock you to know that almost two million Americans will spend it behind bars in a nation with the highest incarceration rate in the world. The United States locks citizens up so aggressively that even our smallest states have more prisoners than most other countries. Our criminal justice system is also the most expensive, costing taxpayers … Read More >>

2025 Ski Hill Openings in Northern Michigan

Dec. 6, 2025

Winter arrived with a bang over Thanksgiving, which means we ski bums are eager to get out on the slopes. As of press time, here’s what we know about opening days at local hills and resorts. (All are dependent on conditions for snow and snowmaking—check each resort’s website for updated information and to see which runs and lifts are open, along with other features like tubing or terrain parks.) Boyne Mountain, Crystal … Read More >>

Women Helping Women with Hestia Women’s Giving Circle

Stuff We Love

Dec. 6, 2025

Do you remember learning about Hestia in history class? She was a Greek goddess of the hearth and home (and sister to Zeus and Hades). In Charlevoix, her name is attached to the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle, a nonprofit under the umbrella of the Charlevoix County Community Foundation that has spent the last 20 years supporting organizations that serve women and girls. Since 2007, they’ve invested $900,000 that has helped dozens of … Read More >>

Reconnect with Nature This December at the Botanic Garden

Dec. 6, 2025

If the cold and the dark have you feeling down, brighten up the day with the three remaining 2025 events at the Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City. First up is their Free Family Fun Day, Dec. 14, where you can bring the kiddos along to make pinecone owls and other natural crafts. No registration is required; crafting takes place from 1-3pm. On Dec. 17 from 6-8pm, put your … Read More >>