Volunteer Spotlight

At Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo, Volunteers breathe life into our Mission,
"We are God's hands providing housing, health, and hope to His children."
At CCDOK, we could not do the work we do without their support. Whether it is behind the scenes or having direct contact with someone in need, our volunteers send a powerful message to the person being helped:
You are worthy, You are valuable, and God loves You.

We are proud to introduce some of the dedicated members of the CCDOK Volunteer Team:

Meet Anh Vu - Intern

I'm interested in volunteering because I enjoy helping and connect with others and hoping to make a positive impact in my community. I'm excited about the opportunity to work with youth in a shelter, where I can contribute, learn, and support them during challenging times. I work at CDS, and we tend to have a lot of opportunity to volunteer at Loaves and Fishes or Meals on Wheels. My previous experience with them taught me the importance of compassion and teamwork when supporting people in need.

One of my biggest strengths is my ability to connect with others and create a supportive environment. I am a good listener, and work well in team settings. I'm also dependable and always willing to learn, which helps me adapt to new challenges. Through volunteering, I hope to make a positive impact while also gaining experience and learning new skills.

Meet Zeena Rassool - Intern

I am a senior at Western Michigan University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminal Justice. After graduation, I plan to go to grad school for clinical psychology at WMU. I'm especially interested in clinical forensic psychology and working with at-risk populations, so interning at the ARK Youth Shelter felt like the perfect fit. I wanted hands-on experience helping youth in crisis and learning more about the support systems available to them. CCDOK's mission really resonated to me, and I knew this would be a meaningful experience.

I want to better understand the challenges that homeless and at-risk youth face and how to support them in a way that makes a difference. I also hope to build my crisis intervention and communication skills since those will be important in my future career. Being here gives me a chance to apply what I've learned in my classes to real-life situations.

For volunteering, I love working with people from all sorts of ages and I enjoy working with youth as I have before. Being able to offer my services to youth would mean a lot, whether it's having a conversation, playing a game, or just being someone they can talk to, feels very meaningful. It's rewarding to see them open up, even just a little.