The Nest

02/24/2026

Coming in June! Our 2nd annual fundraiser for The Nest:
the KenDucky Derby!

This family-friendly event could win you a $50 Meijer gift card at one of several races! We bring the ducks, you bring the tennis shoes, because you’ll be chasing your duck 400 yards around the bend of the Red Cedar River!

🚨We’re ISO sponsors and vendors!🚨

Vendors can sell merchandise or goodies, be nonprofits or businesses, and beyond! There is space for 10 vendors! Vendor fee is $25.

Sponsors have the opportunity to have their business, nonprofit, or foundation name & logo appear on advertisements, The Nest brochures and website, and even on a sprawling banner for attendees to see!

Sponsoring helps us ensure the basic costs of the event are covered so we can focus on raising funds to continue providing FREE mental health Peer Support services to tri-county residents. All donations are tax-deductible 🎉


Sponsorship packages:

✨ $25 Got any grapes?
Get your name on a rubber duck!

✨ $100 Making a splash!
…and make it onto the event advertising!

✨ $200 And the Runner Up is…
The newest addition to our brochures (you!)

and

✨ $500 The Platinum Duck ✨
All of the above, with an exclusive mention on our website, and a banner at the event!


We anticipate a date at the end of May or beginning of June.

Ready to sponsor this event? Or want to be a vendor? Contact fkanous@gglansing.org

02/20/2026

Happy Black History Month 🖤🤎 This month, we will be putting the spotlight on people of color who have been integral to the Peer movement.

Today we’re celebrating Jacki McKinney of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1934 — 2021)
Jacki’s lived experience included homelessness, addiction, mental illness, psychiatric hospitalization, the criminal justice system, and trauma. She used her lived experiences to help others achieve recovery and to advocate for systems change specifically for issues affecting Black women and children. She started the first ever government funded Peer-led case management program and was a founding member of the National People of Color Consumer/Survivor Network.

We recognize the history of Black people because many of their stories are unrepresented when the topic of leaders in mental health comes up. Many have used their lived experience or the oppression they’ve witnessed to help others and to carve a place onto the continuum of care for Peer work. The Nest exists because of their bravery and dedication.

We are also deeply rooted in the belief that our work is only as good as the space we make for the experiences & needs of all people.

If you know an incredible person of color who has used their lived experience to help others, give them a shoutout in the comments!

02/16/2026

The Nest is accepting new clients!

Peer Support is for ✨anyone✨ who wants a little extra support in addressing mental illness. 4 out of 5 people pay nothing to use our services. And even when it’s not free, it’s ridiculously cheap.


A lot of people have never heard of Peer Support. Or they may have an image in their mind that looks similar to an AA sponsor or a friend going through similar struggles.

Peer Support IS talking to another person who struggles with mental illness, but that is not all!

💪🏻 Our Peers are people in long term recovery with years of dedication to improving their mental health and helping others

📖 and have received several types of training to effectively help locals reach goals aimed at achieving sustainable mental health recovery, with evidence-based and trauma-informed approaches


When you sign up for The Nest Peer Support services, you will get help with…

🔍 Identifying which areas of your mental health are causing you the most discomfort or complications

📝 Creating goals & objectives for making the improvements YOU want to see in your mental health

🛠️ Resolving barriers that have prevented progress with your mental health in the past

📣 Coaching & motivational support to overcome barriers and get through rough patches

📍Locating services & resources that will help you reach your goals (such as specific types of therapy in your network, local options for meeting basic needs, etc)


We are currently accepting new clients! Whether you are curious about Peer Support or ready to sign up, fill out this brief form, and someone will be in touch to answer questions or get you started!
tinyurl.com/Nest26Signup

Or visit our website to learn even more about our program as well as our long term goals to open a cozy, home-like alternative to traditional crisis care programs.
www.lansingnest.org

02/11/2026

The Nest, a program of the nonprofit organization Grassroots Groundwork, is working on moving into a brick & mortar office! Doing so will...
✓ Enable us to deliver more [free might we add] Peer Support and Community Health Worker services in-person, located on a widely used bus line
✓ Create further opportunities to collaborate with other organizations in the area
✓ Allow us to have more in-person staff meetings and community trainings
✓ Make us eligible for more grants and accreditations ..among several other benefits.

Soo what are things YOU could do to help with this? Well, for starters, sharing this post or others by this page goes a long way. Additionally, letting us know about grant opportunities you're aware of that are aimed at helping organizations increase capacity (DM us, I promise we're nice!). As well as making a tax-deductible donation or sharing our donation page with others: https://tinyurl.com/GiveToNest

We are confident that
we'll get by with a little help from our friends!

02/11/2026

Happy Black History Month 🖤🤎 This month, we will be putting the spotlight on people of color who have been integral to the Peer movement.

Today we’re celebrating Vanessa Jackson of Atlanta, Georgia (1960 — )
Vanessa identifies as a psychiatric survivor and an ex-patient, terms she uses to describe those who have been labeled by the psychiatric community. She is an advocate, coach, writer, and Soul Doula. She earned a Masters Degree from Washington University-George Warren Brown School of Social Work and is a licensed clinical social worker along with all of the other incredible titles she holds.

She has used her own traumatic experience with inpatient hospitalization, recovery, and racial oppression— particularly around mental health— to help others. And during her time writing and reflecting on her life, she highlighted her own family’s mental illness including her sister who died by su***de, as well as a grandmother who displayed symptoms of psychosis but did not receive help for it and whose illness was not recognized or talked about by family. Her family’s experience with mental illness had a considerable influence on her career path as a Soul Doula.

She has written several articles and books, which are utilized by a wide audience including the Peer community.

Examples of her written work include
🖤 In Our Own Voice: African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery in Mental Health Systems
🖤 Separate and Unequal: The Legacy of Racially Segregated Psychiatric Hospitals
among many others.

We recognize the history of Black people because many of their stories have been suppressed, erased, or otherwise undocumented. The Nest can do what it does because someone brave walked this path before us, whether the history books acknowledge it or not.

We are also deeply rooted in the belief that our work is only as good as the space we make for the experiences & needs of all people.

If you know an incredible person of color who has used their lived experience to help others, give them a shoutout in the comments!

02/05/2026

Our parent organization is hosting a FREE sensory-friendly Valentine’s Day event in Lansing with music, dancing, treats, and a prize giveaway of a goodie basket courtesy of Old Town General Store!

Link to the facebook event:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1bYzVgBWZZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

02/04/2026

Have you ever experienced mental health crisis? This survey will help our parent organization collect critical information and data that will be used to improve crisis response and care in the greater Lansing area. Please consider filling out this anonymous survey!

🎉Our IMPACT survey is NOW AVAILABLE!! 🎉

This anonymous survey is for adults in our tri-county area who have experienced crisis and sought help for it.

This survey takes between 15-20 minutes and will [tremendously] help our organization advocate for & facilitate necessary changes to the way our community responds to crisis of all kinds.

❗️We recognize that crisis can be caused by many things— not just the escalation of symptoms of a mental illness— so we strongly encourage participation from people who have experienced crisis that has been caused or escalated by ANY factors.

…if you want your voice 🎤 REALLY 🔊 heard, we will also be facilitating a focus group in mid-February. Participants will have the opportunity to elaborate even further on their experiences and help us decide what local orgs & providers need to know as it pertains to effectively and safely responding to crisis.
(We ask that you please only do the survey OR the focus group)

This anonymous survey is ✨NOW AVAILABLE✨ in English and there will be a version in Spanish available next week.

Find more info about this project and how to give your input: www.gglansing.org/approach/impact/ -survey
Questions? Email fkanous@gglansing.org 💌

02/03/2026

Happy Black History Month 🖤🤎 This month, we will be putting the spotlight on people of color who have been integral to the Peer movement.

Today we’re celebrating Jennie Fulgham of Zuni, Virginia (1922-2013)
Jennie experienced involuntarily hospitalization at a segregated state hospital, was forcibly medicated, and was physically restrained. She used her experiences to help others combat stigma and, in 1978, she started a retreat center for people with mental illness to get support from their peers— one of the first forms of Peer Respites— called Zuni Federation for Mental Health. 20 years before the first “official” Peer Respite. Her story is largely undocumented. She does not even have a Wikipedia page.

We recognize the history of Black people because many of their stories have been suppressed, erased, or otherwise undocumented. The Nest can do what it does because someone brave walked this path before us, whether the history books acknowledge it or not.

We are also deeply rooted in the belief that our work is only as good as the space we make for the experiences & needs of all people.

If you know an incredible person of color who has used their lived experience to help others, give them a shoutout in the comments!

01/30/2026

Tonight at 7:30 is our weekly Peer Support group! Unfortunately…

after tonight, the meeting is going on hold until the end of February.

…………………….

Our program is 100% volunteer operated and sometimes we have to make tough decisions while we navigate revision and expansion.

Over the next month, The Nest will be training new volunteers and gathering information from the community about its mental health needs, both of which will only yield major improvements to our ability to serve the greater Lansing area.

In the meantime, follow us for self-reflection prompts twice weekly. Heck, why not start today?

✨ Have you ever to make the tough decision to take a detour? It can feel like a step back at times. What were the results? Did it lead to learning opportunities? Put this prompt in your back pocket and reflect on it when you’re feeling depressurized and comfy. ✨

…………………….

Visit us tonight at 7:30 pm to send us off…
Registration 📝 tinyurl.com/NestGroupSignup
Questions 🤔 director@lansingnest.org

Already registered? Check your email (including your spam/junk and promotions folders!) for our weekly email with the meeting link.

And as always, check out our website for more information about our programs and long term program goals! www.lansingnest.org

01/26/2026

Are you fluent in Spanish? Our parent organization needs your help to make their IMPACT survey accessible to more people. Additional details in the original post. Please contact them directly. Thanks!

Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham residents:
GG is seeking someone local to assist us with translating our IMPACT community survey into Spanish so we can receive even more critical feedback about crisis experiences.

We will not need a Spanish speaker to process the data as we have that covered- just someone to help make a second version of the survey that is accessible to Spanish speakers.

This is needed as soon as possible so if this sounds like you, please send us a message or email at fkanous@gglansing.org

Thank you!

01/24/2026

NAMI shares statement on supporting mental health during times of community stress related to immigration enforcement actions

Across the country, people are experiencing fear and trauma during times of heightened community stress. As people speak up and seek to be heard, responding with violence is never the answer.

NAMI stands in solidarity with everyone affected. You are not alone.

Read the full statement from CEO Dan Gillison at nami.org — https://www.nami.org/nami-news/statement-from-nami-ceo-on-supporting-mental-health-during-times-of-community-stress/

If you or someone you love is feeling overwhelmed, support is available through
the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264),
by texting NAMI to 62640, or
at nami.org/help.

If you are in immediate distress or crisis, call or text 988 for 24/7 support.