Page 12 – The Wege Foundation

History Behind the Gift to Clark Home

June 1, 2013February 3, 2017Community Service, Health Care

There is family history behind The Wege Foundation’s recent gift to Clark Home. When Peter M. Wege’s widowed mother, Sophia Louise Dubridge Wege, was in failing health physically and mentally, her only child found the best nursing home he could to care for her. Peter spent as much time as possible visiting Lou – as his dad had called her – tending to her needs, and reminding her how much he loved her.

At age 93, Peter’s own life has been enriched by the same kind of devoted caregivers as those who tend to Clark Home’s residents. By supporting Clark, both Peter and the family foundation demonstrate their shared respect for the good people who are called to enrich the lives of the elderly.

Two parts of Clark’s campaign have special meaning for Peter and The Wege Foundation. The Benevolent Fund that provides for residents after they can no longer pay speaks directly to Peter’s compassion for those in need. Few people know the extent of his generosity to the underserved people of Grand Rapids.

(What is believed to be the nation’s first LipDub performed solely by residents of a retirement community is getting rave reviews. Clark Retirement Community and Grand Valley State University combined efforts for this “Feelin’ Good” video! )

The other pieces of this campaign that resonate with Peter and The Wege Foundation’s mission are the outdoor improvements at Keller on the Lake. Peter and The Wege Foundation are synonomous with environmental stewardship. The Shared Garden and Lakeside Pavilion offer new green space to Clark’s residents where they can be refreshed and restored in what Peter calls “God’s great gift to us of Mother Nature.”

Peter believed in healing the mind, body, and spirit as a sacred unity. Clark Home’s progressive work in treating residents’ Alzheimer’s, their professional medical care for their physical needs, and Clark’s respect for their community’s spiritual wellbeing honor Peter M. Wege’s faith in holistic health.

It´s been said that, "the heart that loves is always young." That being the case, Clark is a virtual fountain of youth. — It´s been said that, “the heart that loves is always young.” That being the case, Clark is a virtual fountain of youth.

Clark's missions it to create a community of dignity, compassion and respect centered on the lives of older adults and those who care for them. — Clark’s missions it to create a community of dignity, compassion and respect centered on the lives of older adults and those who care for them.

Wege Foundation consultant delivers Commencement Speech at U of M

May 30, 2013September 2, 2014Education, Environment

Mark Van Putten has more than 30 years of experience in environmental policymaking and nonprofit organizational leadership at the international, national, regional, and local levels. He serves as a Public Interest Law Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School; a member of the School of Natural Resources & Environment Visiting Committee; and on the external advisory boards for U-M’s Graham Sustainability Institute and Water Center.

He is founder and president of Conservation Strategy LLC, an environmental strategy and organizational development consulting firm. Prior to founding the firm in 2003, Van Putten spent more than 20 years on the staff of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the nation’s largest membership-based environmental group, including nearly eight years as president and chief executive. At NWF, he was responsible for programs offered to more than 4 million members and supporters, a nationwide network of state affiliates, an annual budget exceeding $100 million, a 28-member Board of Directors, and nearly 600 full-time employees based in 11 locations.

Earlier, he founded and led NWF’s Great Lakes regional office and Michigan Law’s Environmental Law Clinic.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Michigan Law in 1982, and has taught courses and seminars on environmental law and policy at the Law School and SNRE. He is a visiting scholar with the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. On the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, he was named one of 30 American “Clean Water Heroes.”

Van Putten is recognized as a visionary leader with proven strategic thinking and planning skills and has a concrete record of turning long-term goals into ongoing organizational reality.

Mark Van Putten has been an environmental consultant to The Wege Foundation since 2004 when he organized the first conference at Steelcase, Inc., on saving the Great Lakes called Healing Our Waters. The coalition that grew out of that original meeting contributed to the $20 billion federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for cleaning up and protecting the five Great Lakes. To read Mark's commencement speech, click here. — Mark Van Putten has been an environmental consultant to The Wege Foundation since 2004 when he organized the first conference at Steelcase, Inc., on saving the Great Lakes called Healing Our Waters. The coalition that grew out of that original meeting contributed to the $20 billion federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for cleaning up and protecting the five Great Lakes.
To read Mark’s commencement speech, click here.

Wege Foundation Leader Earns an Honorary Doctorate

May 15, 2013May 30, 2017Education

During Aquinas College’s Commencement ceremonies May 4, Ellen Satterlee, CEO of The Wege Foundation, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Public Policy. Since 1988, Ellen Satterlee has served as Peter M. Wege’s chief executive running the family foundation he set up in 1967.

Aquinas College said this of their new Honorary Doctorate: Ellen M. Satterlee’s life embodies a commitment to community and service which reflects the mission of Aquinas College and the Dominican charisms.

Well known in the community for her ability to translate Peter M. Wege’s mission into good works, the Dominican’s “charisms” match what Ellen Satterlee does for Peter and The Wege Foundation. Charism is a spiritual grace from God given to individuals for the benefit of humanity.

Aquinas College described her charism this way: Ellen’s lifelong dedication and tireless devotion inspire all those who know her.

A graduate of Aquinas College, Ellen Satterlee served ten years on the Aquinas College’s Board of Trustees. She is currently on the Grand Rapid Symphony Board and a member of the Grand Rapids Economic Club.

During her tenure on the Aquinas Board, Ellen was instrumental in hiring Juan R. Olivarez, Ph.D., as the college’s new president in 2011. Dr. Olivarez’s active leadership led to Aquinas College’s winning the highest national honor a college can earn for its commitment to civic engagement and service. This year Aquinas was named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

Dr. Olivarez officially named Ellen Satterlee an Honorary Doctor of Public Policy by laying the blue doctoral hood over her shoulders during graduation ceremonies in Aquinas’s field house.

Peter M. Perez, President of Carter Products, Inc. and former Deputy Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Commerce, delivered the commencement address to the Aquinas College graduates, class of 2013. Perez's inspirational speech ended on a light note with some words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss. — Peter M. Perez, President of Carter Products, Inc. and former Deputy Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Commerce, delivered the commencement address to the Aquinas College graduates, class of 2013. Perez’s inspirational speech ended on a light note with some words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss.

Aquinata Hall, Peter M. Wege, and a Sacred Scapula

May 1, 2013September 2, 2014Community Service

On April 24, The Dominican Sisters of Marywood celebrated the new life of Aquinata Hall as a licensed Home for the Aged. Built in the late 19th century as the Dominican’s residence, Aquinata is now where they come for nursing care and rehabilitation services. The Dominicans will also open the new facility to the community at large, depending on space. Prioress Maureen Geary called the renovated and expanded Aquinata “a healthcare destination.”

Porter Hills – with its years of experience in quality health care for seniors – worked with the Dominicans to design the three floors for differing levels of nursing needs. Already home to some Dominican Sisters, Aquinata will only get busier as the number of elderly Sisters increases. Aquinata’s original chapel serves as the heart of the new building where Dominicans close out their lives of service cared for spiritually as well as physically.

Ellen Satterlee, CEO of The Wege Foundation, spoke at the chapel service about Peter M. Wege’s long admiration for the Dominicans. His love for the Dominicans began with his two grade school teachers at St. Stephens, Sister Leonard and Sister Vincent de Paul. When Peter went to a military high school in California, these two continued to write him letters.

And Peter Wege gives full credit to Sisters Leonard and Vincent de Paul for surviving World War II. When he was sent overseas as an Army Air Force pilot, his two former teachers gave him the above scapula containing a sliver of the cross. With their sacred amulet in his billfold, Peter survived several close calls during the war.

Since the war, Peter M. Wege has never been without this protective gift. He’s had a lot of wallets since he was discharged in 1946, but every one of them has carried the scapula blessed by his Dominican teachers Sisters Leonard and Vincent de Paul.

aquintaellensue — Sister Maureen Geary, Prioress of Aquinata (left) along with Ellen Satterlee, CEO of The Wege Foundation (center) and Sue Jandernoa, co-chairman of the capital campaign for the building and renovating of Aquinata Hall.

aquintainside — Photos of the interior of the newly remodeled Aquinata Hall including. Above is the original chapel from the 1880s.

aquintawindow — Aquinata Hall’s new reception area where new residents are welcomed.

U of M Dean Delivers Aquinas’s Annual Wege Lecture

April 22, 2013February 3, 2017Environment, Health Care, Wege Speaker Series

In a talk titled Math to Maps to Moms, Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda gave the 17th Wege Foundation Lecture at Aquinas College April 18. The dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment is a leading authority on how environmental toxins are poisoning our children’s health—especially children whose families live in poverty.

Babies are not small people, Dr. Miranda explained, which puts them at the highest risk for ingesting toxins like lead. They crawl on the ground where cleaning chemicals are concentrated and put everything in their mouths. Even worse, because their metabolisms operate faster than in adults, babies are more apt to suffer brain damage from lead than their parents. Faster metabolisms mean babies take in more food and water per pound and breathe more air than adults making them more vulnerable to environmental toxins including lead.

Visible symptoms of lead poisoning include colic and wrist drop. But the worst consequences can’t be seen. Lead damages babies’ and children’s central nervous systems, hearing ability, and attention spans. Dr. Miranda’s research is directed at locating neighborhoods with the highest number of lead-poisoned children – almost always in impoverished parts of town.

She and her team find these children from blood samples that have been tested for lead. In those with elevated levels, Dr. Miranda found clear evidence of developmental deficits attributed to the lead in their blood stream.

But Dr. Miranda, who came to Michigan from Duke University, sees hope for mitigating the neurological damages of lead. And she starts with a colorful backpack full of new books and a library card for each child. Lab studies on rats have shown their lead-poisoned brains start functioning better when the rats are put in cages full of bright toys they can manipulate. For the children hurt by lead poisoning, Dr. Miranda sees the stimulation of books and mentors reading to them as the best hope to improve their brain function. Passionate about her cause, Dr. Miranda told the Aquinas audience, “These children deserve every opportunity all our children do.”

Peter M. Wege's daughter Mary Nelson and his son Peter M. Wege II and Aquinas College's Sister Mary Weber gather after Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda's Wege Foundation Lecture on "Linking Children's Health to Our Environment." — Peter M. Wege’s daughter Mary Nelson and his son Peter M. Wege II and Aquinas College’s Sister Mary Weber gather after Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda’s Wege Foundation Lecture on “Linking Children’s Health to Our Environment.”

Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda, Dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources & Environment and Aquinas College President Juan Oliverez after Dr. Miranda gave the college's 17th annual Wege Foundation Lecture. — Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda, Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment and Aquinas College President Juan Oliverez after Dr. Miranda gave the college’s 17th annual Wege Foundation Lecture.

Habitat Owners Earn Their New Homes

April 1, 2013September 2, 2014Community Service

In 2006 Peter M. Wege’s environmental vision led to the nation’s first Habitat Home awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. That was just the beginning.

As Habitat Kent’s Director Barbara Benda, says, “It has been an incredible journey of ecology, economy and social justice ever since Mr. Wege’s support empowered Habitat to commit in 2007 to building all LEED certified Habitat homes in Kent County.”

By April 2013, Habitat Kent was working on its 111th LEED home. That means 110 LEED homes have been restored since Peter and The Wege Foundation built that first one at 925 Cass Ave.

In the Wealthy Heights neighborhood alone, The Wege Foundation has been instrumental in Habitat Kent’s rehab and building of ten homes with repair work and clean-up on six more. The restoration of this area has special significance to Peter and The Wege Foundation as it is anchored by Wealthy Theatre.

Peter Wege led the charge that in 1997 saved and restored the abandoned movie house. The resurrection of the Theatre triggered the comeback of the entire Wealthy Street Business District as well as the surrounding neighborhood.

To become a Habitat homeowner, applicants must put in 300 to 500 hours on construction. Additionally, they are required to take classes in home maintenance and money management. The link here offers a perspective on what Habitat applicants must do to earn their front-door keys.

**Top photo – Barbara Benda, Director of Habitat Kent, Caitlin Wege and Jessica McClear Wege, two of Peter M. Wege’s granddaughters, and Terri McCarthy, V.P. of Programming for The Wege Foundation, stand on the porch of the newly remodeled Habitat home on Freyling Place in Wealthy Heights.

Click here to view Application Form

This sign with photos indicates the typical condition of houses before Habitat Kent goes to work on them.

This sign tells the story of the good organizations behind the Habitat LEED restoration of this house in the Wealthy Street neighborhood near Wealthy Theatre.

Peter Wege’s Granddaughters Tour Blandford School

March 30, 2013September 2, 2014Education

Caitlin Wege and her sister Jessica Wege McClear stand by the hand-carved basswood doors leading into one of two sixth-grade classroom in the new LEED-certified school building. Jeff Lende, one of the two Blandford teachers, did the carving of nature themes highlighting the outdoor school’s focus on the environment.

If there was any doubt that neither cold nor snow nor pouring rain can keep the 60 Blandford sixth-graders indoors, these muddy boots tell the true story!

One of the two sixth-grade classrooms at Blandford School filled by students who proudly call themselves BEEPs. It stands for Blandford Environmental Education Program and includes all the students raising their own chicken for the year and selling the eggs, learning Peter M. Wege's principle of economicology. By taking care of the ecology, the chicken, the students understand the need to balance nature with the economy. — One of the two sixth-grade classrooms at Blandford School filled by students who proudly call themselves BEEPs. It stands for Blandford Environmental Education Program and includes all the students raising their own chicken for the year and selling the eggs, learning Peter M. Wege’s principle of economicology. By taking care of the ecology, the chicken, the students understand the need to balance nature with the economy.

Family Members Come to Michigan for the Wege Lecture

March 15, 2013September 2, 2014Environment, Wege Speaker Series

Jessica Wege McLear and Caitlin Wege are pictured above with Dr. Mary Sue Coleman, President of the University of Michigan. The sisters came across the country, one from Boston, one from San Diego, to attend Michigan’s annual Peter M. Wege Lecture started by their grandfather in 2001. This year’s speaker was Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and head of the UN Environment Programme. His title was, “The Imperative of Change: Environmentalism in the 21st Century.”

The UN executive’s thesis took a page out of Peter M. Wege’s two books on ECONOMICOLOGY when he addressed the need to balance the economy with the ecology. Steiner’s argument is that “nature is also capital” and must be treated for its financial worth. “Functioning wetlands have value,” he told the audience in Rackham Hall. “Pollination services by bees are free but shouldn’t be.”

Because humans have considered the natural world as a free resource, we have exploited it without regard to its financial worth. “Mankind’s non-valuation of nature over time is tragic,” Steiner said. “We have to become more economically literate about the environment.”

And echoing Peter M.Wege’s top global concern, Achim Steiner spoke to the threat of over population. “We have seven billion people today, nine billion by 2050.” His ‘Imperative of Change’ is that we must act now to conserve Earth’s finite resources in the face of the exploding number of people dependent on nature for survival.

Steiner noted that the difference between our reaction to the smog pollution of the last century and the global climate-change damage in the 21st is that people could see and smell dirty smog. But the destructive pollution of carbon dioxide is invisible and odorless. Most discouraging to his audience was the statistic that world governments now spend eight to nine times more money subsidizing carbon industries than they spend diminishing emissions.

“We must transition to a green economy,” he said, before it’s too late.

**To watch the introduction and the full lecture, please click Wege Lecture for the two links.

uofmmarkvanputten — Mark Van Putten, consultant to The Wege Foundation, and Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, are pictured at the dinner following Steiner’s speech at the University of Michigan.

FARM FOOD? FAMILY FUN? FIND THE DOWNTOWN MARKET

March 1, 2013May 30, 2017Community Service, Environment

After years of dreaming, discussing, and designing, a farmer’s market for the inner city is now happening. Seven abandoned warehouses on a city block bordered by Ionia, Logan, Wealthy, and 131 have been replaced by a soaring structure of recycled wood and concrete. From 131, the Market will be recognized by the cathedral-like glass crown covering its greenhouse. While it’s been known as the “urban market,” it’s now officially the Downtown Market.

Local farmers will start selling produce at the seasonal outdoor market May 4 and will be there Tuesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Thursdays 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. All 90 open-air stalls have been leased, according to Mimi Fritz, the Downtown Market’s CEO. By supporting local farmers, the Market is also fighting the national obesity epidemic by promoting healthy food choices.

The $30 million Downtown Market, funded by donated private dollars and public tax money, is anchored by the three-story indoor Market. The new construction will add one more record to Grand Rapids’ many green building firsts by earning a gold LEED designation, the only market in the nation to do so.

The 138,000 square-foot indoors market opens later this summer housing a brew-pub, restaurant, and banquet room. Students from local culinary-education programs are already signed up to use the commercial kitchen for cooking classes this fall. The smaller children’s kitchen features appliances that can be lowered to the height of younger chefs.

While more businesses have signed up for inside space, the only two announced are local entrepreneurs selling fair-trade coffee and ice cream. Fritz is looking to attract other local businesses selling consumables like cheese, baked goods, meat, wine, fish, and chocolate as drawing cards for area families and out-of-town visitors.

The New York Times recently highlighted the Grand Rapids Downtown Market at http://www.nytimes.com

Jessica Wege McLear, Dave Frey, and Caitlin Wege. Truly “Are A Team” that helped make the Downtown Market a reality. The Wege Foundation and The Frey Foundation were major contributors in the private donations that combined with public funding to build the $30 million indoor/outdoor farm market on Ionia and Wealthy just east of 131.

Joining the several nearby steeples in downtown Grand Rapids is the cathedral-like roof of the new Downtown Market. The glass allows sunlight to feed the greenhouse plants in the nursery underneath. The empty building in the background typifies the 7 empty warehouses that were demolished to clear the land for the city’s first Downtown Market.

The new Downtown Market with its three pyramids of glass as seen from the highway.