Alliance of Cultural and Ethnic Harmony

The ACEH Scholarship Story, 2013-2021

A strong social justice activist and advocate for education, Rebecca (Becky) Arenas was a force to be reckoned with in Holland. Among her many community connections, she served on the board of ACEH from 2002 to 2009. When she died in 2011 at age 76, we thought about how we could honor her life and work.
We found our answer in the Gary Pepe Memorial Fund, which was set up with donations from his family and friends after his untimely death in 2005. Gary, too, was a social justice warrior, a mentor to youth, and served as ACEH president in 2003. With monies from that fund, plus other donations and proceeds from our annual silent auction fundraiser, in 2013 ACEH established the Rebecca Arenas Scholarship at the TRIO/Upward Bound program at Hope College, to provide funds for an outstanding high school student of color who would be the first in his or her family to attend college.

In 2019, we set up a second award, the ACEH Education Scholarship, also at TRIO/Upward Bound.
In 2020, we doubled our annual scholarships to four, with two new winners chosen by Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP).
In 2021, funds were granted for a fifth scholarship, the Fronse and Germaine Pellobon-Smith Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) Scholarship Award, established by Maple Avenue Ministries and announced at the Juneteenth Freedom Festival.

At ACEH, we believe these awards are so important to the future of young people here that we have committed to transferring 60 percent of all donations to a designated fund that is invested through a local financial firm. Eventually, the earnings of the fund will cover the cost of these five annual scholarships—and maybe more.
Can you help us grow this fund to recognize and support our community’s youth? To contribute, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the Donate button. Thank you!
Please meet the 2021 recipients:

Felecia Navarro
Holland High School
Attending Hope College
Majoring in Social Work

Brisa Martinez
Holland High School
Attending Grand Rapids Community College
Majoring in Criminal Justice

Carla Garcia-Caballero
Holland High School
Attending Grand Rapids Community College
Majoring in Criminal Justice

Isaiah Reynolds is a graduate of West Ottawa High School, was awarded the Fronse and Germaine Pellobon-Smith scholarship. He plans to attend Hope College to study business and pre-law, with the goal of becoming a corporate lawyer one day.

2021 TRIO/Upward Bound winners
"These are two young woman who are definitely going to make a difference in our world."
~Liz Colburn, director, Hope College TRIO/Upward program.

Angel Ruiz will attend Kalamazoo College, with plans to go into medicine. She received the Becky Arenas Scholarship. The first scholarship established by ACEH in 2013, this award honors the life and legacy of social justice and education advocate the late Rebecca "Becky" Arenas of Holland, who served on the ACEH board from 2005 to 2009.

Delfina (DJ) Duron plans to attend Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She has a variety of interests and has not decided on a field of study yet but most likely it will have something to do with social justice. DJ received the ACEH Scholarship, established in 2019.

Affordable Housing in Holland
The ACEH supports expanding our housing stock

The Board of the ACEH continues to support the addition of housing stock to our city and neighboring communities -- particularly affordable housing. We support the work of Housing Next and its vision of adding Smart Density to our neighborhoods. We support collaboration and creativity as we move forward and our community grows.

Please follow Housing Next on social media or sign up to receive its newsletter. Executive Director Ryan Kilpatrick does a great job explaining the need and demonstrating how Smart Density can be done in our neighborhoods without taking away from the aesthetics we love and appreciate. Read the latest from Mr. Kilpatrick and Housing Next HERE.

Racial Disparities in Health Care Series

We had really informative discussions with our partners about vaccine skepticism.
Here is the YouTube link to our February 21 discussion focused on the Black community.
Here is the link to our April 11 discussion focused on the Hispanic/Lantinx community.
Here is the link to the video with Spanish subtitles.
Please share these videos and let's get our community vaccinated!

A big thank you, again, to the several panelists and partners who helped the ACEH put together this vital series.

Microaggressions in the community

The ACEH sincerely encourages you to consider having Alan Headbloom into your church, your business, your club or any other organization you belong to. Everyone could benefit from this discussion. Learn more about Alan and his history and how he helps people address their biases here.

About Us

Founded in January 1999, the Alliance for Cultural and Ethnic Harmony, ACEH, is a non-profit, non-partisan, grass-roots group of ethnically diverse people from Holland and nearby areas. ACEH is a friendly organization that welcomes all people and works to create the feeling that our communities belong to everyone. ACEH is not affiliated with any political or religious groups, and is supported by membership dues, donations and grants.

What does ACEH do?

Holds monthly public meetings to talk about local and national justice and diversity issues, listen to speakers from different ethnic groups, and take part in "walk in my shoes" cross-cultural exercises.
Provides a safe and respectful place to share experiences of prejudice and racism and to work on solutions.
Works with ethnic and civic groups on projects to foster an inclusive community, including the Lakeshore Area Summit on Racism.
Offers resources of ideas, speakers, materials and diversity training to schools, businesses, clubs, and religious organizations.
Supports public efforts to oppose discrimination, racism, and violence.
Publishes a monthly newsletter sent via email or regular mail; also sends e-mail bulletins about events and issues in West Michigan.
Holds annual potluck with ethnic foods and family games, sponsors other social events.
Encourages patronage of ethnic businesses and events.

Resources for Discussing and Disrupting Racism

Holland's (Un)affordable Housing:

You are a retail clerk, a teacher, a chef, a worker at a local manufacturing plant. You are single, married, with children or without. You work in Holland--but you can’t find an affordable apartment or home, so you commute miles to work or you double up with friends and family. You are an employer, but potential employees turn down your job offer because they can’t find a place to live here.

In Holland, and Ottawa County, people in need of rentals have struggled for years to find housing that suits their needs and matches their income. For them, relief from unaffordable housing can’t come soon enough. A recent proposal for a mixed-income rental development in downtown Holland was defeated by a 5-3 vote in city council.

“It is not just those you see on the street corners with signs, but individuals who have jobs and are one paycheck away from being homeless,” ACEH board member Viola Jackson-Cleveland said. “When you have to decide on dinner or paying rent, that is a sad statement for our community.”

It’s the age-old problem of supply and demand. The rental supply is not meeting the demand, driving up rental rates. Civic leaders recognized the problem in 2014 and began to collaborate to address the need. In early 2015 the team finalized the Ottawa Housing Next document with data supporting the need for affordable housing. This study shows that while poverty plays a role in the need for affordable housing, the reverse is also true: the lack of affordable housing is creating poverty. Housing Next was implemented in November 2017.

The ACEH Board has chosen to face this issue head on. After hosting a forum in October, the board is looking for ways to keep the conversation going, partners to collaborate with and answers that will help sooner than later. If you have a question or suggestion or want to be part of the (un)affordable housing discussion, please email aceh@harmonyalliance.org.

"We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges." - Tim Berners-Lee

Alliance for Cultural and Ethnic Harmony