Mental health club helps out Habitat for Humanity

An MHCC club is helping to put a roof over homeless families’ heads through Habitat for Humanity.

“Empowering individuals to provide compassionate, skilled and professional mental health and social services for people in their communities,” is the mission statement of the Mental Health and Human Service (M.H.H.S.) club, and they strive to do just that.

About 20 club members and other MHCC volunteers will join a homebuilding project on Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Southeast 106th Avenue and Stark Street.

M.H.H.S. club Vice President Tamara Young said, “It’s pretty exciting when you get so many people together for one project, for one goal. You can get a lot done.

“The volunteers will be doing anything from construction, to painting, to cleaning up. Whatever they need us to do we’re able to do,” Young said.

To register online for Saturday’s event, see http://pdx.volunteerhub.com. The “join code” is “Hood.”

Habitat for Humanity was the first organization to respond to a mass e-mail from the club inquiring about local volunteer opportunities. Habitat has expressed the ability to set up another build event for MHCC volunteers whenever interest is expressed.

“If you want to volunteer, one person or 20, they want you,” said Young.

The M.H.H.S. club chose to join this event to respond to the immediate need for housing for homeless families.

In the past the club has fed the homeless, run raffle events, organized clothing and food drives and has sponsored a family for Christmas.

This year the club has sponsored four at-risk youths from a local high school, to whom they will provide Christmas presents.

The club has existed more than 15 years. Club adviser Leslie Allen said its overall goal ” is to offer an environment where first and second year students in the mental health and human service program can come together to decide how they would maybe like to give service to the community, or sometimes to each other, too.”

Club officers also provide tutoring to first-year students to “make sure they have a foundation to build on and move forward,” said Young.

She said the club hopes to team with other clubs and plan future joint events.

The M.H.H.S. club meets at noon every Wednesday this term, in room AC2700. The club is open to anyone from MHCC and Young encourages anyone interested to attend meetings and be involved.

For more information about the M.H.H.S. program and club, visit http://www.mhcc.edu/mentalhealth/.