Julianne Howe-Bouwens - WKTV Journal

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

United Church Outreach Ministry, or UCOM, is the secret that is not a secret, according to its Executive Director Dr. Bruce Roller.

For more than 30 years, the organization has provided resources to those in the community who are low income, “trying to give them the hand that they need, whatever that hand is, to help them move to a better quality of life,” Roller said.

For the clientele, what UCOM provides is no secret. This has included providing food and clothing for immediate needs along with programs such as financial, health, and workforce development. One of those programs has been “tutoring and mentoring in public schools so that the children get the eduction they deserve and are able to move on in that next generation,” Roller said, adding that could include perhaps going to college, which for some may have not been an option.

However, for those not in need or having never needed services like what UCOM offers, the organization may seem like the “best kept secret in town.”

“I don’t really like to say that,” Roller said with laugh, “as it is my job that it isn’t.”

Julianne Howe-Bouwens, seen here rehearsing for a Grand Rapids Civic Theatre production, will perform at this year’s 14h Annual Friends of UCOM Benefit Concert. (Photo by now.wktv.org)

One of the best ways UCOM representatives have found to share with its community about its mission and work is through the 14th Annual Friends of UCOM Benefit Concert which is Sunday, March 12, at Plymouth United Church of Christ, 4010 Kalamazoo Ave. SE. Tickets are $25 with the event starting with a silent auction at 5 p.m. and a concert following at 6 p.m.

“This is a good place for people to jump in and begin to see what we do, Roller said. “They may begin to want to get involved in the work that is going on here.”

“This fundraiser, this effort, these people are so amazing,” said Julianne Howe-Bouwens, a local actress and singer who will be performing at Sunday’s Friends of UCOM Benefit Concert. “They help the community in so many ways by providing for people who are in need and it is such an honor for me to be a little part of that effort.”

Howe-Bouwens, who starred in Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s “Sister Act” last year, will be joined by the area’s longest continuing choir, The Schubert Male Chorus. The entire program is coordinated by Phil Pletcher, who has lended his expertise to all of the benefit concerts these past 14 years, according to Roller.

UCOM was started in 1969 by the women of Smith Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ. The group began with a food collection and hot lunch program for students at neighboring Hall Elementary School, now Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School. As the group learned about its community needs, the program expanded and changed to fit them, with UCOM becoming what it is today. UCOM is now located 1311 Chicago Dr. SW, Wyoming and is part of the All County Churches Emergency Services System (ACCESS), serving those in southwest Grand Rapids, Grandville, and Wyoming.

Roller said he hopes through programs like the benefit concert that UCOM will continue to expand its efforts to meet the needs of those it serves.

For more about the 14th Annual Friends of UCOM Benefit Concert or UCOM, visit www.ucomgr.org.

Civic Theater has done it again. They have assembled amazing Grand Rapid’s talent, chosen the perfect actors, created a fabulous set, and put it all together with incredible music for Sister Act.

Julianne Howe-Bouwens has established herself as a powerhouse of talent and continues to amaze, this time in the lead role as Deloris Van Cartier. With comedic timing and that voice (that voice!) she leads the cast through this very entertaining rendition.

Deloris Van Cartier witnesses murder and is sent into hiding in a convent. No one would think to look for this outgoing, sequin-wearing showgirl under the same roof as nuns. Deloris’s zest for performing soon takes hold of the nuns, and before they know it, they are packing the pews of the nearly closed church. It seems that the church has caught “Sunday Morning Fever”.

Deloris stays with the sisters until it is safe for her to leave. Once free, she returns to the convent for one last performance, realizing that she needs the nuns’ friendship as much as they need her voice. They are sisters.

Julianne Howe-Bouwens shines in Sister Act (Courtesy of GRCT.org)

Civic Theater was awarded the right to perform Sister Act along with playing Alan Menken’s original music from the Broadway show. The singing and choreography are perfectly matched with the music’s disco beat. Deloris and her back-up singers perform “Fabulous, Baby” in the beginning of the play. The song is then reprised later in the show with Deloris and the nuns. The music, directed by Wright McCarger, weaves in and out of the story line seamlessly.

Sister Act is directed by Allyson Paris who is the Associate Director of Grand Rapids Civic Theater. She also recently directed the travelling troupe production of The Hundred Dresses. You may remember her as the mean nanny from Mary Poppins.

Much of the glitz and glamour of the show is emphasized by the ensemble dance numbers. Choreographer, Torrey Thomas worked with the groups nightly to perfect the routines. Whether in sequins or pajamas, the nuns put on quite a show.

If you like to laugh, enjoy great music, and are amazed by talented singers, then make sure to catch Sister Act at the Civic. The show runs through March 20 with ticket available online at GRCT.org.