Family & Lifestyle Medicine Celebrates Grand Opening in Holt  – Michigan Conference

On Friday, August 21, Family & Lifestyle Medicine (FALM) celebrated the grand opening of its new clinic alongside neighborhood members, native Seventh-day Adventist church members, supporters and neighborhood leaders. Representatives from Delhi Township and partnering organizations joined the celebration. The clinic remained open all through the night for excursions and refreshments. Dr. Kimberly Azelton, president and medical director of FALM, mirrored on the imaginative and prescient that began all of it. 

“Once upon a time, I had a dream of providing healthcare, not sick care, with the time the patient needed and, in the places where the patient needed it,” she stated. “Putting health back in healthcare and the care back in healthcare.” 

In 2021, that dream started taking form as a direct main care microclinic within the again room of Azelton’s residence. Much of her care occurred by way of home calls all through the Greater Lansing neighborhood; an strategy the clinic continues in the present day. 

As the work grew, so did the crew. Dr. Jonathan Sharley first encountered FALM whereas finishing a scientific rotation with Azelton. 

“I saw what an incredible way it was to practice medicine,” Sharley recalled. “And I wanted to get in on the action.” 

Together, the 2 physicians, each board-certified in household and life-style drugs, watched the observe develop right into a multidisciplinary crew incorporating health, wellness, culinary drugs and stress-management teaching alongside medical care. 

Eventually, the clinic outgrew Azelton’s residence. In December 2024, she emailed Delhi Township Development Director Howard Haas, who responded inside quarter-hour. That connection opened the door not solely to a constructing, but additionally to relationships all through the Holt neighborhood. The clinic quickly started establishing roots by way of a well being program hosted with assist from the Holt Seventh-day Adventist Church. By March 2025, FALM had an official cooperation settlement in Holt. 

Then, assist started arriving in surprising methods. Dana and Lynda French supplied a complete workplace suite, together with desks, chairs, a duplicate machine and different furnishings, earlier than fundraising had even begun. Once fundraising began, the neighborhood rallied across the imaginative and prescient, elevating greater than $100,000 in simply 5 months. Azelton and Sharley additionally acknowledged Eric and Lisa Cooper, who assisted with operations through the course of. 

Another connection started in a Florida airport when Sharley seen a person carrying a inexperienced hat that learn, “Powered by Plants.” A easy remark, “I like your hat,” began a dialog with Ramesh and Maya Dedhia, who occurred to stay within the Lansing space. The dialog led to a friendship, and the friendship finally grew to become one other reply to the clinic’s wants when Ramesh and Maya supplied a personal mortgage to assist fund the rest of the constructing challenge. 

Throughout the grand opening, Azelton pointed to the folks and organizations whose assist helped flip a dream into actuality. She thanked Delhi Township for welcoming the clinic and acknowledged the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s longstanding emphasis on well being and wellness. Michigan Conference leaders Israel Ramos and Mike Bernard have been additionally current, and Azelton thanked them for the Conference’s assist of the work. 

Today, FALM offers whole-person care that emphasizes the bodily, psychological, non secular, and relational points of well being. Its new Holt location offers a everlasting base from which that mission can proceed to develop. 

The story of FALM is one among connections: an e-mail answered in quarter-hour, a donated workplace suite, greater than $100,000 raised by supporters, an opportunity assembly in an airport, church buildings prepared to associate, and volunteers and neighborhood members who stepped ahead when wants arose. 

Through the clinic, its volunteers, supporters and the encompassing neighborhood, God continues to open doorways for whole-person care to achieve folks in Holt and past. What began within the again room of a house has turn out to be one thing a lot bigger. May God proceed to look at over and bless these efforts as FALM seeks to place well being, and care, again into healthcare. 

Brianna Kittleson serves as the executive assistant for the Communication and Public Campus Ministry Department of the Michigan Conference.