by on 2025 CCDA National Conference Go & Sees offer a great opportunity to experience amazing CCD ministries all throughout Grand Rapids. Go & Sees provide conference participants an opportunity to visit the neighborhoods and communities in the area.
All Go & Sees will depart from the CCDA Info Booth (100) in the Secchia Lobby. Please arrive 10 minutes before the start time to ensure a timely departure.
Options include:
Bridge Street Ministries
Bridge Street Ministries is a place-based youth development organization that runs several youth-focused programs with a CCD focus.
This Go & See will visit our ministry headquarters, which is located in the heart of one of Grand Rapids’ historic neighborhoods and is home to our West Side Resurgence site and community cafe. This location was formerly a dilapidated liquor store and porn shop but was renovated into a beautiful multi-use community space.
Visit Bridge Street Ministries and explore the power of relocation, presence, and longevity. We will also discuss the importance of youth development and collaboration in our CCD work.
This Go & See does not include lunch, so be sure to grab something before meeting at the CCDA Info Booth to take a van to Bridge Street.
New City Neighbors
Get ready for an unforgettable experience with New City Neighbors, a dynamic youth empowerment organization on a mission to transform lives! We’re not just growing food; we’re growing future leaders.
Join us for an exciting tour of our farmhouse and discover how we cultivate 60,000 pounds of fresh veggies every year! Then, take a seat at our farm-to-table café, where you’ll savor delicious wood-fired pizza from our outdoor pizza ovens. As you enjoy the flavors, we’ll share our groundbreaking approach to tackling food scarcity with sustainable agriculture—all while empowering a new generation of young leaders.
You will ride the bus with a volunteer from New City Neighbors. Lunch will be provided.
The Other Way Ministries
The Other Way is a Westside Grand Rapids community development organization that has been active for 57 years. We have a wide variety of programs designed to help neighbors at the direct aid and systems levels. Some of our programs include a food pantry, a farm market/food co-op, a community garden, an afterschool kids program, a men’s group, and a licensed preschool.
This Go & See will focus on our Agape Co-op program, which is a group of 45 member families that have indicated to us that they would like to have a deeper and more mutual relationship with The Other Way, and participate in quarterly meetings, volunteer hours, and fun events. We are excited to share this successful program with you.
Be sure to grab food before meeting your guide at the CCDA Info Booth to take public transit for this Go & See.
ICCF Community Homes Walking Tour
Turning a Forgotten Corner into Tapestry Square: How Christian Community Development Transformed a Neighborhood
In 1990, a once bustling several-block area in Grand Rapids had become known as the Forgotten Corner Neighborhood, having lost over 80% of its residents and all but one business. However, ICCF Community Homes had a vision for revitalization and began to acquire vacant parcels and dilapidated structures, while also finding wide-ranging community and government funding and assistance to restore the neighborhood in a biblical vision for shalom.
ICCF identified the project as “Tapestry Square,” likening it to a tapestry, made both strong and beautiful by the diversity of interwoven materials. The area is now strong, healthy, and vibrant, where diverse people live, work, shop, thrive, and enjoy life. After three decades of planning and construction, Tapestry Square contains more than 200 new and rehabilitated housing units, hosts 9,000 SF of retail space, and includes an innovative grade 6-12 school.
This walking tour will cover several blocks to view ICCF’s work over 30 years to develop secure housing opportunities for income-qualified individuals and families in a thriving area that provides access to education, retail options, and public transportation.
Participants will reach the tour area either on foot or by taking public transportation.
Amplify GR
At Amplify GR (AGR), we believe every person deserves to live in a strong neighborhood—one that widens pathways to prosperity for all.
Rooted in Southeast Grand Rapids, AGR is a holistic development organization that is proud to be both a local and a national leader. As part of the Purpose Built Communities network—a coalition of 27 communities across the country—we bring proven research and shared learnings to empower local leaders and neighbors in creating thriving, equitable communities.
Our focus is Boston Square, where we are leading a comprehensive redevelopment effort in collaboration with neighbors, churches, businesses, and community partners. Some of those efforts include mixed-income housing, business incubation (retail and food), a community center, an early learning center, a health clinic, and many other community amenities.
Together, we’re working across four key areas that matter most for long-term prosperity:
- Economic Opportunity
- Mixed-Income Housing
- Birth-to-Career Education
- Community Wellness
We will offer a walking tour and conversations with AGR staff, neighborhood church leadership, and local residents about how this work has evolved.
This Go & See includes transportation.
Downtown Grand Rapids Mural Tour
Join Grand Rapids muralist and Hip Hop cultural specialist, Monk Matthaeus, for a mural tour around downtown Grand Rapids. See the murals near the convention center and learn where to venture off for more visuals if you so choose.
This will be a walking tour and no lunch will be served on the tour but there are lots of options along the way.
