Koinonia House
About the Koinonia house
Koinonia ("fellowship" in Greek) was the first Project Neighborhood House and is owned by Calvin College. It is located within the Southeast part of Grand Rapids in the Eastown Neighborhood. Eastown is a diverse residential neighborhood with a business district that holds an eclectic mix of specialty shops, restaurants, and businesses that bring residents near and far.
Students living in Koinonia have the opportunity to be a part of a close-knit neighborhood block on Auburn St. For service learning, many have participated in a variety of organizations including, Homework House Tutoring, Eastown Neighborhood Association, Health Clinic, Thresholds (helping adults with developmental disabilities), and more.
Address
1230 Lake Drive SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Location
About Doug and Susie Vander Griend
Doug and Susie Vander Griend are the mentors at Koinonia. Doug grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from Calvin College & Northwestern University, Doug is now a tenured chemistry professor at Calvin. Susie grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. After meeting out west, Doug and Susie married in July 2001, and moved to Grand Rapids after living in Los Alamos, NM and Greenville, SC. In 2010, they sold their Grand Rapids home, and, along with our three children (Lucas, Asher, Daria), dived into living in community through Project Neighborhood. Their desire was that "our lives might be more about people and less about stuff." They love spending time with friends, travelling, and enjoying good culinary eats. They are deeply committed to Jesus and serve their church, Oakdale Park CRC, where Susie leads a children’s ministry and Doug leads as an elder.
