Three years’ worth of work by Calvin College in the Burton Heights neighborhood in Grand Rapids was recognized by the Garfield Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA), which presented Calvin with a Good Neighbor award in November.

Calvin began its work in Burton Heights in 2001 via the Calvin@Burton Heights partnership, an effort funded by a three-year, $399,949 HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) grant.

The partnership allowed students, faculty and staff from several Calvin departments to work in Burton Heights clinics, homes, schools, businesses and other organizations. Those efforts were recognized by GPNA, which gives Good Neighbor awards annually in five categories.

While honoring Calvin’s past efforts in Burton Heights, “the award committee also recognizes Calvin’s continued commitment to working in the neighborhood,” said Sue DeVries, executive director of GPNA.

Calvin’s Carol Rienstra, director of community relations, said that good things are happening in Burton Heights.

“The essence of what is going on in Burton Heights,” she said, “is that nursing, social work, Spanish, business and education faculty, along with many Calvin students and staff, have benefited from working and studying in the neighborhood. Being a good neighbor is easy when you’re in a community where people reciprocate with neighborliness. Calvin folks and Garfield Park neighbors are growing and learning together.”

The college’s work in Burton Heights has spanned a variety of settings over the past three years. Calvin nursing students have given flu shots and performed blood pressure checks. A Calvin urban geography class tackled issues of traffic calming and walk-ability in the Burton Heights neighborhood. A Calvin business class created business and marketing plans with Burton Heights entrepreneurs. And this past September, during StreetFest, incoming students had the unique job of etching car windows with identification numbers in a neighborhood-wide theft prevention effort.

And while the original COPC grant to Calvin has now expired, the college’s commitment to the neighborhood has not.

In fact, Calvin is pioneering some new projects, including “Spanish for Neighbors,” a class for non-Hispanic residents of the area that is taught by a Calvin senior.