The Holland/Zeeland area is fortunate to have many agencies that serve the needs of women and children. Here are the ones we’ve worked with during Women’s Service Day . We encourage you to check them out and discover your own path to engagement!
*ACTS
- Builds meaningful relationships with young people in the city of Holland to embrace, equip and empower them. This ministry strives to make a lasting impact on their lives.
- Needs volunteers to come alongside young people. Find out more at their website.
- Arbor Circle works to provide loving homes for abused and neglected kids who end up in foster care.
- From mental health services to substance abuse counseling to adoption and foster care programs, Arbor Circle offers a wide range of resources and expertise, all dedicated to enabling children, adults, and families achieve change in their lives and communities.
- Addresses the multifaceted needs of adult individuals and families affected by autism and other intellectual and developmental differences through their residential and weekday engagement programs.
- Needs one-on-one mentors to foster relationships with residents, people to assist with hospitality at their special events and volunteers to help care and maintain their campus through gardening, home maintenance and cleaning. Find out more.
- Helps families in the greater Holland area who are 7 months pregnant until the child is a year old with basic needs. At the 2012 Women’s Service Day event, we contributed diapers (the greatest need), wipes, infant clothing, and lotions and shampoos. Mothers and their children are hosted at a breakfast the second Saturday of the month and can receive supplies there.
- We donated through New Community/Fourth Reformed Church (now BLVD), but other area churches offer similar programs: Central Wesleyan in Holland and Faith Reformed in Zeeland. Contact any of those churches for opportunities to contribute or to volunteer with organizing donations and preparing and serving food.
- Hosts a camping experience for persons with developmental disabilities in an inclusive environment that embraces their recreational, emotional, physical, spiritual, and relational needs.
- Needs counselors, 16 and older, to volunteer for either four or eight days as a “special friend” to an exceptional person. Find out more at their website.
- Provides programs and support services for child victims of abuse and their families, enabling them to heal emotionally and physically.
- Offers a variety of volunteer positions, from office and facility work to providing comfort to children in distress. Find out more.
- Feeds and clothes families, provides housing, and equips community members with skills and resources for sustainable living.
- Needs volunteers to sort donations of clothing and food, maintain a community garden, help with poverty simulations, be drivers for delivery or receiving of donations, and more. Find out more.
- Provides community-based care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Activities incorporate cognitive stimulation, memory training and educational programs.
- A not-for-profit farm that provides education regarding healthy food and improving access to fresh food for low-income families.
- Volunteers are needed for different kinds of gardening tasks, depending on time of year. Find out more.
- Brings together in one place both leisure activities for seniors and the coordination or delivery of services that address many aging related needs of seniors and their families, such as respite care, nutrition, home safety, and the assistance of social workers.
- Needs help with accounting, bulk mailing, computer data entry, assisting with projects, special events and the fitness center, food services, health services, senior care services including delivering home meals and home repair, and providing respite services. Find out more.
- Uses the power of relationships to effectively meet the needs of the poor.
- Needs volunteers to serve as clearinghouse specialists, employment specialists, drivers, mentors, or financial counselors. They’re also looking for volunteers who have specific skills in marketing, communications, legal, accounting, or fundraising. Find out more.
- Seeks to engage, educate and challenge the community through the arts. HAAC serves as both an arts council and an arts center: a building where artists and community members come to experience art, a group of people that steps out into the community to provide similar experiences and an organization that supports and partners with other community organizations to promote and advocate for the arts.
- Needs volunteer to serve as gallery receptionists, exhibition assistants, reception and recital hosts, ceramics studio/kiln assistants, teaching assistants, mailing clerks and facilities assistants. Find out more
- Administers health services to the poor and uninsured in our community. They provide or coordinate prescription medication, diabetic supplies, and dental and eye care for folks at or below 200% of the federal poverty level who have no health coverage from any source.
- Needs office volunteers willing to commit to a reoccurring schedule, planning committee members to help plan fundraising events, board members to fill leadership roles, dentists willing to provide scheduled care at their office, and dental hygienists and assistants to help run their weekly clinic. Find out more.
- Develops and delivers programs of excellence for the homeless and less fortunate.
- Needs child care providers, thrift store associates, dock/kitchen workers, exercise leaders, tutors, and transportation providers. Find out more.
- Provides provide first night necessities to children entering the foster care system. Too many kids enter a foster family’s home with nothing but what they have on or a garbage bag. Hope Pkgs is working to change that in West Michigan.
- Needs volunteers to shop and put together first night bags based on a check list. Find out more.
- Offers comfort and relief to soothe the body, counsel and support to quiet the heart, and resources of faith to strengthen the spirit toward the end of life.
- Needs volunteers to provide companionship and bereavement support, to work directly with patients and families, and to provide clerical assistance at the Hospice House and the Hoover Office. Find out more.
- Focuses on neighborhood revitalization in Core-City Holland.
- Needs volunteers to assist with renovation and clean-up work. Find out more.
- Provides kids in need with well-balanced nutritious meals, filling the gap schools and parents often can’t afford.
- Volunteers make and pack Sack Suppers for kids, as well as making trail mix and popcorn for Snack Sacks. Find out more.
*Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity
- Builds housing with partner-owners based on the principle that everyone deserves a decent place to live and that our community is a better place when that occurs.
- Needs both skilled and unskilled volunteers to build houses, but they also need people to help at their office with the front desk, data entry and filing, English/Spanish translation, promotional mailing preparation, and at the Habitat Restore with inventory and sales. Find out more.
- Makes and provides custom quilts to those facing challenging life circumstances, in hopes of creating strength, hope, and a little bit of joy for the recipients.
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Meets every Tuesday night at Love Sews Ministry (Riley Square, north side of Holland) from 6:30-9:00, and Monday and Friday afternoons from 1:00-3:30. No sewing experience required and all materials provided, including sewing machines. Find out more.
- Provides stable housing environments and opportunities to expand life skills for women transitioning from shelter, rehab, or re-entry programs to independent living.
- Volunteers do a variety of things, including home maintenance and yard work. Find out more.
*My Sister’s House I and II sponsored by the Holland Deacons’ Conference
- Cares for women with physical and developmental challenges by assisting them with the activities of daily living in an adult foster care home.
- Serves as a central location to collect, store, and distribute diapers that have been donated by the local community or purchased through fundraising efforts.
- Needs volunteers to help with events, diaper wrapping, administrative assistance, marketing and promotion. They also need people to host diaper drives. Find out more.
*Ottawa County Health Department
- Provides community-wide prevention and protection that is beyond the reach of the medical care system or health insurers. They keep food safe, detect and stop outbreaks of disease, and create conditions in the community that make it easier for people to make healthier individual choices and live healthier lives.
*Ottawa County Community Mental Health
- A public provider of services for people with developmental disabilities, serious mental illness, and/or substance use disorders.
*Outdoor Discovery Center – Macatawa Greenway
- Maintains a protected habitat for our area’s wildlife and prepares nature-based educational and recreational opportunities for citizens and visitors through a network of permanently protected public and private parks, forests, streams, and other open natural lands in the greater Holland/Zeeland area.
- Needs volunteers to help with events, clean-up, landscape maintenance, gardening, weeding, and general “spit & shine” for the greenway as well as their facilities and grounds at the Outdoor Discovery Center. Find out more.
- Prepares children for success by equipping parents through integrated support of the Holland/Zeeland/Hamilton communities.
- Volunteer opportunities include helping to plan, prepare for, and put on events; office work; and community outreach. Find out more.
*Renew Therapeutic Riding Center
- Provides equine assisted activities and therapies to children and adults with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities.
- Volunteer opportunities include lesson assistance, barn and horse duties, and office and special events support. Find out more.
*Resilience-Advocates for Ending Violence
- Creates and sustains an environment that enhances the voice, opportunities and strength of women and girls in Allegan and Ottawa Counties.
- Needs volunteers to assist with children’s services, respond to crisis calls, advocate for sexual assault survivors, coordinate donations, help in the office or shelter with administration and maintenance, and more. Find out more.
- The *Girls on the Run program at Resilience educates and prepares girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. The program combines training for a 5K running event with healthy living education, life skills, mentoring relationships, and physical training.
- Needs coaches and administrative assistance. Find out more.
- Provides assistance to the people in the Allegan/ Ottawa County area including utility, rent, food, furniture, Christmas assistance programs, as well as community programs.
- Volunteers fill food orders at the pantry, take a child shopping, organize and give away school supplies and backpacks, distribute food to families in need, and ring a bell at a red kettle during Christmas. Find out more.
- Operates a safe house for victims of domestic abuse, but also offers services to those who are looking to rebuild their lives: counseling, legal advocacy, and referrals for housing and other resources based on the survivor’s needs.
- Needs help with child care and children’s activities, transportation, shelter maintenance, and resident education/life skills. Find out more.
- This nonprofit, formed in 2012, focuses on the community within 13th Street to 22nd Street and River to Ottawa Avenues, working to build a stronger neighborhood. If you live in that neighborhood or would like to learn from their approach for your own community, see their website.
- Nuestra Casa is a neighborhood center for Westcore Neighbors. Women’s Service Day was one of the partners to help convert an abandoned house into a neighborhood center where neighbors can gather to socialize, learn, and celebrate.
*Women’s Resource Center (Grand Rapids)
- Helps to improve women’s workplace and economic opportunities through assistance in preparing for job interviews or to reenter the workforce.
- Needs mentors, resume coaches, computer teachers, as well as client assistants for the Working Women’s Clothes Closet. Find out more.
If you don’t see something that meets your interest, the Greater Ottawa County United Way keeps a list of volunteer needs throughout our county. Find out more.
Women's Service Day 