As part of our Women’s History Month celebration, we connected with Kara Kurczeski Hoholik, communications manager at Treetops Collective, a Grand Rapids nonprofit organization founded and staffed by women who are making their own kind of history by focusing their efforts on assisting women and girls who are new to this country. It is vital work that, given the current political climate, is now more important than ever. 

Q: What compelled you to work for a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women and girls who are immigrants and refugees?

A: There are a number of reasons, but one of the most important to me personally are my three children, who range in age from 7 to 12. The work we do here helps foster the kind of diverse community I want my children to grow up in.  I want them to be exposed to people from different cultures, with different religions and different perspectives. My work, and the connections with a very wide variety of people that job enables, are something my children benefit greatly from. They are able to broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding of other parts of the world, from the games people play and the foods that they eat to the conditions that propelled people from around the world to come to this country. In turn, the understanding my children and I gain, and the friendships that are formed, in a small but very important way helps make Grand Rapids a more welcoming place for the people served by Treetops Collective.

Q: How did the group arrive at that name?

A: The impact of a tree is often seen by its top, standing tall and providing shade, but it is the roots deep in the ground that allow for its stability and longevity. All the while, within the trunk, concentric rings grow year after year, showing not only drought or damage, but also resilience and perseverance. These hidden components of a tree, roots and rings, are the base from which health and strength emerge. Just like trees need the right soil and conditions to grow, we hope that Treetops provides this sort of space for refugee women leaders to sink their roots into. As they become established and stable in their community, they are able to reach their branches out to provide resources so we can flourish under the shade for generations to come.

Q: Why the focus on women and girls new to this country?

A: Generally speaking, women and girls face more barriers to achieving whatever their individual goals are. Getting a job, learning English, obtaining a driver’s license, finding childcare: all this and more, because of obstacles in place, can be more challenging for women and girls, both in the countries they come from and here in the United States. Since women’s goals are often related to improving their family's life as well as their own, focusing on support specifically for their unique needs multiplies our organization’s impact throughout the community and creates a ripple effect of progress for generations.

Q: What is the range of programs offered?

A: We do so much!  For example, each year, through our Concentric Program, Treetops trains nine New American women to lead cohort groups of about 10 women in their same language and cultural group to build stronger networks of support for and among New American families. During the year, the leader offers support, education, and resources to her members. The leader also receives continuing education and training, often leading to certifications in her chosen field. The languages of each cohort vary year to year depending on community need and new arrivals. For example, last year was the first year we had a Ukrainian group. 

Often, before newcomers are able to focus on their dreams personally and professionally, they need a comfortable and safe space to process the experience of coming to America. Our Circles of Support program offers peer-led support groups addressing migration trauma and building resilience as families establish a new home in West Michigan.

We also have our Teen Social Enterprise Program, a 10-week paid internship that allows teens new to America to immerse themselves in a creative and meaningful professional experience by helping to support the online and retail sales of the many different products we sell to help fund our organization. They also learn about the power of storytelling, plan for their future and, as a final project, design a product for Treetops' core line that shares a message they want to convey.

Besides intentional programming, we also create adjacent solutions to issues that arise naturally like driver’s training. We work with an immigrant-owned driving school and subsidize the cost of training and license testing with local grants for about 20 members each year. Especially in a city without reliable public transportation, driving is essential to a person’s freedom and independence, especially for mothers.

A: In terms of sheer numbers, we directly assist between 200 and 250 people a year. But the real impact of our work is hard to quantify because what we do is relation-based, and not transactional. Success is found in individuals achieving the goals they set: obtaining housing, finding a job, furthering their education. We also talk a lot about mutuality -- between staff at Treetops and members, but also with the broader community. When friendships form between New Americans and people born in this country, both sides benefit. We cook together, play together, and learn from each other. It is also important, in terms of self-worth and value, for the New Americans we work with to understand and appreciate all that they have to offer. They have gifts and skills others might not have, and bringing those to their new community, and being provided an opportunity to share them, helps the people we engage with realize that they are not a burden, but an asset. The ability to give back is what makes all of us feel of value, so a big part of what we do is help create pathways for that to happen.

Q: What is it like doing the work you do in the current political climate?

A: First, people born in America need to understand what is motivating others to come here. In that regard, the greatest common denominator we see is that a significant majority of the people coming here as refugees are escaping war and violence. If most Americans, myself included, found themselves in a similar position, they would absolutely make the same choice to leave home for a better and safer life for their family. Most of us have no context to understand the conditions people are fleeing from, and if we did, we might be more open to and accepting of their presence in our community. 

Second, before refugees even arrive in the US, they are often spending years navigating the complicated refugee application process, living much of their life in an uncertain state of limbo. Some of the people we serve were born and raised in refugee camps, having already escaped one horror to find themselves in another: living in temporary tents and lacking the necessities people here take for granted. These experiences are often traumatic, and many do not share their stories because it is too difficult to talk about. Now that they have finally arrived safely; after being very carefully vetted by the U.S. government, refugees simply wish to put down their roots and live.

Another hurdle we are currently facing in this political climate, is the myth that refugees and immigrants are somehow a “burden” who drain government resources. That persistent myth could not be further from the truth. The refugees and immigrants we see are deeply appreciative of the opportunity presented them and want to show their gratitude by investing back into their new community. They want to work and provide for their families. Instead of taking resources, they want to provide them. More people need to hear, and understand, that fact so that misconceptions can be dispelled.

The biggest problem, though, might be a lack of empathy. We live in a society that is often pretty segregated in terms of race, class, and economic status, which can make it difficult to see the world through the perspective of others, especially the perspective of people who’ve faced conditions so terrible it can be hard for others to even fathom, let alone relate to. 

Q: Can you think of any examples of people dealing with challenges others might have a difficult time relating to?

A: For many of the people we work with, the learning curve needed to adjust to their new lives is very steep. One that immediately comes to mind is a family who recently came to Grand Rapids this winter.  Because of the living conditions they experienced before arriving here, they were unfamiliar with a home thermostat and how to use it. The family, including small children, wore coats indoors until someone was able to teach them how to turn on the heat. If something like using a thermostat requires support, imagine how great the challenge is to adapt to much larger changes and systems like education, healthcare, and legal paperwork. 

Q: Are there any books you’d like to recommend?

A: I love reading, so I have plenty of recommendations! Some of my favorite books about the refugee/immigrant experience that I’ve read in the last year include “Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok, “A Place for Us” by Fatima Farheen Mirza, “Nightbloom” by Peace Adzo Medie, and “What Strange Paradise” by Omar El Akkad. Treetops also hosts a quarterly book club with the Kent District Library and we have a full list of past titles and discussion questions on our website. But to be limited by this list is to reduce the immigrant experience to only a handful of voices when there are countless to be heard.

Q: To end this on a positive note, what gives you hope?

A: Action gives me hope. It’s easy to sit in despair while scrolling on my phone at endless headlines, but it’s a lot harder when I am out in the community taking action to make the world a better place. When I am at work talking to teens about why their voice matters, I feel hopeful for their future as leaders. When I witness hard conversations between members of different cultures that result in a resolution, I feel hopeful for our city. Hope is a verb, and to me, the best way to have hope for our future is to take steps forward together.

By quickly issuing a flurry of executive orders that attempt to take away the rights of trans people, President Donald Trump has made clear during his administration’s first few weeks that he intends to continue his bullying ways – ignoring the law and trampling constitutional rights – now that he has returned to the Oval Office. 

So, how do we stop bullies like Trump? We don’t back down. When Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing federal agencies to withhold funding to all providers of gender-affirming care for minors, we fought back.  

It is a dangerously cruel order that endangers lives by inserting the government into a place where it should not be: the relationship between trained professionals who provide care and their patients and their families. 

Within a week of that EO’s signing, Corewell Health, one of Michigan’s largest healthcare organizations, announced that it would stop providing gender-affirming care such as hormone therapy for new patients under 19. The same day Corewell made its announcement, state Attorney General Dana Nessel issued guidance warning that denying such care to young people could be a violation of the state's anti-discrimination laws. 

We and our allies also leapt into the breech.  

Dozens of advocacy groups, including the ACLU of Michigan, signed an open letter to Corewell Health urging it to reverse course, and reminding the healthcare provider that gender-affirming care is essential, evidence-based treatment that has been proven to save lives. 

The very next day, Corewell announced that it will resume giving trans youth the care they need. And a day after that, a federal district court judge, responding to a lawsuit filed by the national ACLU and Lambda against the Trump administration, issued a temporary restraining order completely blocking implementation of the EO.  

It was a quick, and extremely rewarding victory that sends a crucial message: Despite his attempts to project absolute power as he tries to create an autocratic presidency, Trump is not a monarch, and there are legal limits on his authority that are central to our democracy. 

But the fight to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people from the bully in the White House is only beginning.  

Executive Disorder   

Trans people make up a miniscule part of the population – fewer than 1% nationwide. 

Yet they’ve been the subject of at least six EO’s signed by Trump since he took office on Jan. 20. It is important to note that many of these orders are constitutionally flawed and extremely vulnerable to legal challenges.  

Importantly, an executive order does not change existing laws or establish legal precedent. The order that attempts to withhold funding to all providers of gender-affirming care for minors is a prime example.  

Trans people have rights under federal law. Enforcement agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and federal courts have ruled that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is a form of illegal sex discrimination under federal law. Nothing in the executive order changes that. 

Also crucial is this: Nothing in the executive order changes state laws. In Michigan LGBTQ+ people are protected under state civil rights laws. This includes existing protections against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression at work, when seeking housing, or in education or public accommodations. Michigan prisons provide medically necessary gender affirming care for some people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.  Trans people are able to obtain state IDs, birth certificates, and legal name changes in Michigan that reflect their gender identity. 

People feeling discouraged or overwhelmed should take heart. Trump, regardless of the image he’s trying to project, is not all powerful. And, as the courts become involved, it could well turn out that many of his executive orders aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. 

But their aim, in part, is to demonize difference by targeting a vulnerable minority of people who simply want to live authentically – using the bathroom of their choice, play sports based on how they identify, and access the medical care their doctors say they need and are entitled to.  

Sadly, Trump’s EOs and the craven narrative they imbue are not the only threat trans people are facing.  

Reason vs. Demagoguery 

Anti-trans legislation is being pushed at both the state and national level. As a result, a very small sliver of this country’s population is receiving a vastly disproportionate amount of vitriol-fueled attention. 

Some Michigan lawmakers are pushing this anti-trans narrative with legislation that excludes trans female students from high school sports. The message this sends to all trans youth is you don’t belong, While the practical impact is miniscule. According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), more than 170,000 student-athletes participate in interscholastic sports competitions. Instead of blanket policies, the association evaluates requests from female trans students on an individual basis, granting waivers when appropriate. 

Do you know how many such waivers were granted in the 2024-25 school year? 

Two. 

By making these decisions on a case-by-case basis, the MHSAA is demonstrating that there are fair, reasoned, and compassionate ways to address issues affecting so few people.  

Unfortunately, some politicians want to discard that approach entirely. Instead, they are pushing harmful legislation that appeals to ignorance at the expense of children who only want to participate in sports based on who they are, not the gender assigned to them at birth.  

There are currently four bills in the Michigan Legislature seeking to do just that: 

• HB 4024 seeks to deny trans student access to restrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity.  Restroom and locker room use would be governed by “sex assigned at birth.” 
• HB 4031would mandate that participants in interscholastic sports could only have their performance scores and placement based on “biological sex” or “sex assigned at birth.” 
• HB 4066 would restrict participation in school sports based on “sex assigned at birth” 
• SB 9 attempts to limit access to school restrooms and changing rooms based on “biological sex.”  

There’s also a federal bill passed by the House of Representatives and sitting in the Senate that would, if signed into law, would deny trans students the ability to play school sports in accordance with their gender identity. 

There are a lot of bullies trying to pass bad laws and implement harmful policies affecting trans people. These laws and policies are a distraction to the real issues facing the American people, and the inability of these politicians to come up with real solutions to real problems. 

They must be confronted, opposed, and stopped. It will take all of us working together to do that.