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Creating Community Connections
ABOUT OUR WORK
At the heart of our work is a deep commitment to the humanities—fostering understanding, compassion, and dialogue that strengthens communities and amplifies voices. For the past
three years, we’ve followed a recipe for success:
✅ Creating safe spaces for open and honest conversations
✅ Honoring diverse perspectives
✅ Staying true to our core values
Serving Hope and Breaking Bread is another way we connect to the community on a smaller scale than Live Shows.
We spread cheer, education, conversation, connection, support, and light refreshment.
WHY JOIN?
Join us for evenings of BEing, thought-provoking stories, and deep connection with others.
Let’s break bread, spark meaningful connections, and create lasting impact—together.
Whispers to Wisdom: Menopause Unmuted
Let's Share Our Stories
Join us on November 18, 2025, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the Pere Marquette Depot in Bay City.
We refuse to stay silent - for the sake of the women coming behind us. They deserve more than whispers and mystery. They deserve real talk, real stories, and real preparation. They deserve more than confusion, isolation, or surprise. They deserve honesty, education, and support.
Women deserve this - right now.
This isn’t a niche topic. It’s life. And it’s time we rally together - not just to talk about it, but to share our stories, compare notes, and create a community of wisdom.
The more we learn, the more we’re amazed by the number of women walking around, sipping their lattes, managing full lives while their bodies are literally reforming - casual superheroes in cardigans, silently battling hot flashes and hormonal plot twists.
When they should be crowned and fed grapes, with fans blowing and water pouring!
Yes- we’re amazed, and we want to talk about it.
So on November 18th, we’re getting loud (lovingly so) about something too often wrapped in shame or secrecy: menopause.
Join us for “Whispers to Wisdom: Menopause Unmuted”—a conversation that peels back the hush, breaks down the stigma, and invites us all to laugh, learn, and lean into the power of this transition.
Shelf Life Talks
A New Branch on Our Tree
A Breaking Bread Village space- in partnership with Bookmarks, where books spark deeper conversations and stories find new meaning. Together, we’ll take books off the shelf- and explore what we’ve been carrying on ours.
By engaging in intentional dialogue and meaningful reflection, this series invites us to listen, learn, and connect across experiences and perspectives. It invites people to explore what they’ve put on their mental or emotional “shelves”- and how those things shape their worldview. Books become the entry point, but the real focus is dialogue, reflection, and community.
We will explore fiction, nonfiction, self help, religion, and so much more.
We understand the literal lifespan of a book on a shelf. However, at times the metaphorical “life” we place on our own shelves- memories, lessons, beliefs, and identities- quietly gather dust or remain untouched, waiting to be revisited, reexamined, or rewritten. Or shape how we show up in the world, even when we’re not fully aware they’re still there. Or often define the chapters we write next, whether we’ve chosen them or inherited them.
Let’s explore meaningful stories together, reflect on what they stir in us, and grow through the conversations they spark.
Upcoming Conversations
All meetings take place from 6:00 - 7:00 PM at Bookmarks, 126 Townsend St, Midland, MI 48640.
- November 18, 2025 - Find Your Joy!
- December 16, 2025 - More to come!
Space is limited! Please reserve your spot below!
Note: This is NOT a book club- this is a space to share and learn. There’s no pressure to read a particular book in a certain amount of time. The fun part is that I will provide a list of recommended books based on the topic (see below).
Book Recommendations
Shelf Life Books at Bookmarks are 10% off!
Find previous reads and recommended insights on our topic of the month.
Feel free to bring and share a book that helped you dive deeper into what you've been carrying on your shelf.
Some books will be available for purchase at Bookmarks, for specific titles, submit a book order request.
Share A Meal Day- Happy Birthday to Us
Thanks for Celebrating With Us!
Since May of 2020, The Breaking Bread Village has been bringing people together through meaningful conversations. To celebrate this milestone, we invited YOU to spend May 12th sharing a meal with someone, sparking meaningful conversation, and strengthening our community - on your own time, in your own way!
We're so grateful for all the people and groups who celebrated with us! You gave us a beautiful gift!
Sharing a meal isn't just about food—it's about presence, intention, and seeing one another. In a world that seems to encourage division and distraction, taking the time to connect face-to-face can be a radical act of love and unity. It reminds us that behind every story is a person worth listening to. For individuals, it can mean feeling seen, heard, and valued. For communities, it strengthens bonds, builds trust, and nurtures a culture where empathy and compassion lead the way.
Our Experiences
HOLDING SPACE
No pressure, agenda, or obligation- just community holding space!
“When others can’t stand, be their ground. When they can’t speak, be their voice. Holding space isn’t about fixing—it’s about standing in the gap with love, presence, and understanding.”
In February 2025, we created space to exhale, to be in community, and to find some light in the midst of it all.
Together we break bread, share space, and uplift each other.
LOVE SESSIONS
A few years ago, we launched our Love Session Community Connection.
We openly encourage and participate in intentionally creating connections in the community- through acts of kindness and love. Such as:
- Listen without distractions
- Write a handwritten note
- Virtually support a small business
- Hold the door
- Reach out to a friend
SERVING HOPE & BREAKING BREAD
We're extremely grateful to the Midland Area Community Foundation for their gift of a $55,000 grant to allow us to facilitate these Breaking Bread Village Community Connection. We invite you to participate in this and share your stories and experiences . The goal of this program is an ambitious effort to connect people from a background of vulnerability and abuse (domestic violence, unhoused, substance abuse survivors, and people from the LGBTQIA community) and those who work in the social and human service industry (police, social workers, judicial services, and the medical field). The program will have a three-tier effort.
