VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA MICHIGAN

Volunteers of America Michigan works with the most vulnerable in our communities, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and helping all people reach their full potential and achieve independent lives.

Founded on Christian principles in 1896, these values continue to drive us to today, but our faith is expressed through service -- and that service is delivered without regard to faith or belief system. We believe in the dignity of every person. Our mission is to serve people and communities in need and create volunteer opportunities for people to experience the joy of service to others.

Today, Volunteers of America Michigan programs stretch across the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. A brief summary of programs:

We operate the state's most comprehensive homeless service center in Lansing, with shelter for men, women and children; a daytime service center for the homeless to connect with resources, a medical practice on site (with a dental practice to be added in 2016); legal services and more.

Volunteers of America Michigan is the state's largest non-governmental provider of services to veterans, with transitional housing, employment assistance and homeless prevention programs for low-income veteran families.

The agency is one of the largest nonprofit providers of housing for low-income seniors, disabled people and families, with around 1,000 apartments in well-maintained communities across the state.

In 2015, Volunteers of America Michigan was named the state's only recipient of the Health Professions Opportunity Grant, which will be used to get low-income welfare recipients connected with good-paying, high-growth jobs in the health care industry. The program amounts to a $10 million investment over five years in the Detroit region's health care industry.

For more than 23 years, we have operated a holiday giving program, Adopt A Family, which connects families in need with families who want to help. In 2015, this program will bring gifts, food and clothing to an estimated 3,000 families.

We operate a car lot where donated vehicles are repaired and tuned up to be sold below market rate to supply low-cost forms of transportation and at the same time help fund our social service programs. And through four Thrift Stores, we sell household goods at a deep discount with profits going toward social service programs. Thrift Store vouchers are issued to clients who need assistance with clothing or setting up house.

Find out more at www.voami.org