Hope. Help. Here in Monterey County. Thanks to our Volunteers!
My mother (a longtime local volunteer herself) often says that she has faith that local community members will step up and help if you let them know what’s needed and how they can make a difference. She has seen it happen time and time again here on the Peninsula, and so have we at Community Human Services.
In fact, Community Human Services was founded by community volunteers back in 1969, when local parents were worried about their kids getting hurt by drugs. What did they do? They volunteered their time to found an organization that would ensure there was effective substance abuse treatment here in Monterey County for all who needed it. Fifty-five years later Community Human Services is still here, and still providing our community members with the services they need to fulfill their potential. And we still rely on the generosity of volunteers.
Since our founding we have expanded our programs to meet community needs and now offer mental health and homeless programs as well as substance use disorder treatment and prevention, all with an eye to youth and families in particular. We are in thirty locations throughout Monterey County, including 17 middle and high schools. Community Human Services provides a residential substance abuse treatment center, plus two sober living homes; three homeless shelters; two outpatient mental health centers for families and individuals; and more.
Over the past year, as Community Human Services worked to open Shuman HeartHouse, Monterey’s first shelter for unhoused women and families with children, we were fortunate to partner with two local groups in particular who rallied dozens of their members to pitch in and help. They were the Junior League of Monterey County and the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild.
The Junior League first partnered with us to help out at our first shelter for women and families, Casa de Noche Buena, which opened in 2021 in Seaside in partnership with Gathering for Women. They threw birthday parties for the children there and organized fun and games for our guests. And when we got down to the wire at Shuman HeartHouse, with only a month to fully furnish and get the new shelter ready for guests, they showed up in strength every Saturday morning for over a month to help wherever needed – unpacking kitchen supplies, putting together furniture, making beds, and more. We couldn’t have done it without them. Special thanks to Renee Penalver, the President of Junior League, and Carle Mowell, the lead sustaining member. Why do they do it? Well, volunteering and giving back to the community is a central tenet of the Junior League, but there’s more.
Carle notes, “I choose to volunteer in our community as a way to learn more about my neighbors, recognize community needs, and help be part of solutions. Volunteering also increases my personal skills in leadership and advocacy, and offers a great deal of pleasure and balance to my life.” Renee added, “volunteering through the Junior League has been a transformational experience where I have met wonderful women and promoted my own social mobility.”
The second volunteer group we’d like to highlight and thank is the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild. Through their Community Outreach program, their members created over 40 homemade quilts for Shuman HeartHouse beds – enough for each one to have a homey, colorful, one of a kind quilt on it. And they did the same thing for our first family shelter, Casa de Buena Noche, and for our youth shelter, Safe Place. Their extraordinary creative output both beautified and created a much-needed sense of home at our shelters.
Volunteering in groups is a great way to meet people with similar interests, to learn more about what’s going on in your community, and helps you learn new skills. Volunteering with others gives a sense of belonging and strengthens social connections, so important when loneliness continues to grow in our country, and research shows how bad it is for our health. And group volunteering provides us with a network of social support, which can help reduce stress and promote overall well-being.
If you ‘re looking for a group to volunteer with, we highly recommend Junior League and the Quilters Guild. We are grateful to them and EVERYONE who has stepped up and volunteered and donated their time, talents or treasure over the past year. And if you’re in a group that would like to volunteer with Community Human Services, we’d love to hear from you!
To learn more about Community Human Services: www.chservices.org To learn more about the Junior League of Monterey County: Women’s Leadership Training | Junior League of Monterey County (jl.org)
To learn more about the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild: Home
Page | Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild (mpqg.org)