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Date: 4/18/2022
HOLLAND – In April of 2021, a new group of volunteers named the Holland Helpers began assisting seniors with day-to-day needs. Since they’ve started, the Holland Helpers have completed 125 volunteer tasks.
Member Linda Racine explained, “Holland is a small town. We’re only 2,000 year-round residents and we have 500 seniors, so we don’t get a lot of calls for help. We just wanted to help seniors maintain their independence and be able to stay in their homes as long as they would like to.”
She continued, “Most of our volunteers are seniors, I’m a senior. We’re helping the older ones who are starting to need more help. We do anything that they would need that they can’t do on their own. Mostly it’s transportation to medical appointments or shopping. Sometimes it’s picking up their prescription or helping them around the house.”
The Holland Helpers is part of Holland Outreach. The request for Holland Helpers assistance comes through Outreach Coordinator Brenda Palmer. If someone needs help, they call her. Palmer then calls their dispatcher who sends out an email to all of the helpers. Then whoever can complete the task goes out to the home where the person lives and assists.
“I love the Holland Helpers group,” Palmer stated. “They have already proven to be invaluable in helping our seniors. It is wonderful to hear that a volunteer stopped by for coffee, or that people went shopping together.”
Having worked at the Holland Community Center for nine years, Palmer said she’s had many conversations with seniors who have told her that as they get older, they don’t always feel seen or heard. Having a Holland Helper put the senior’s needs first, with a kind, positive attitude, can give a senior hope, happiness and something to look forward to. It also gives them new stories to tell or hear.
The idea for the group came from member Robin Cournoyer who read a book called “Alone and Invisible No More” by Dr. Allan Teel, describing his program of staff and volunteers helping seniors lead healthier and happier lives through community action. After reading the book, Cournoyer decided they needed something like this for seniors in Holland. She told Racine, and together they started organizing the group.
Racine said part of why she wanted to do this was when her mother was alive, she couldn’t drive any more and needed help. Racine lived an hour away, had a family and was working full-time. She couldn’t always get there when her mother needed it. In her honor, Racine wanted to do something for other people because she knew her mother needed the support and a lot of other people need assistance as well. According to the U.S. Census, nearly one-third of all seniors live by themselves – close to 14 million seniors aging alone.
“We saw that there was a lot of people who needed a lot of things,” Racine said. “I became good friends with a lady I gave a couple of rides to. If she had a medical ride, we would go out to lunch afterwards. We might stop and pick up the stuff she needed at the store on the way home, and it made a difference I think in her isolation.”
She went on to say, “After you’ve done something for someone, they are incredibly grateful. I appreciate the smiles on their faces, and they were able to get what they needed as well as the friendship and socialization are the best.”
The Holland Helpers continue to help people as they need it while spreading word of their group. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Brenda Palmer at 245-3163 or 245-7108 ext. 115 or email outreach@hollandma.org.