Social Justice Award Previous Winners

2021

Mariah Stewart
Youth Social Justice Award
For serving as a role model for youth in our community by championing the rights of women and minorities and serving as a tutor for younger students and a peer mentor at West Ottawa High School.  

Request Foods
Employment
For opening their doors to the diversity in our community by providing 75 immigrant workers with housing and transportation and by generously donating their products to local nonprofits and families in need.

Mary and Dean De Ridder 
Education
For championing the acceptance and civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community and supporting their families. 

Tito Venegas
Government & Community Relations
For passion and leadership in strengthening the Holland community by initiating programs at Intersection Ministries that address food scarcity, affordable housing, and language education. 

Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Ministries
Housing
For their spirit of collaboration to create long term, affordable housing options for families enabling them to thrive in all aspects of the community. 

Dr. Margret Duncan of the Holland Community Health Center 
Health
For teaching patients of all backgrounds how to provide healthy, safe and nurturing homes for their children through all stages of growth. 

Herb Weller
Lifetime Achievement Award
For dedicating his life to building a culture of learning and connection between the City of Holland and the wider world. 

2020

Isaiah Reynolds
Youth Social Justice Award
For advocating for racial justice and educating others about racial inequity while modeling excellence, integrity, and acceptance of others.

Gentex Corporation
Employment 
For opening their doors to the diversity, equity and inclusion in our community by recruiting and training employees for Spanish-speaking OEC final assembly lines.

Ottawa Community Schools Network
Education 
For collaborative leadership and their practices to integrate student supports, promote active family and community engagement, and expand enriched learning time and opportunities.

Sara Van Tongeren, Reverend Jennifer Adams, Jeff Sorensen, and Out on the Lakeshore
Government/Community Collaboration
For leading the efforts to pass the City’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance with mutually respectful collaboration between local government, community members, and local stakeholders.

COVID-19 Eviction Diversion Task Force consisting of the 58^th District Court, Good Samaritan Ministries, and Legal Aid of Western Michigan
Housing
For their spirit of collaboration to provide eviction diversion services to vulnerable tenants and landlords in our community.

2019

Escape Ministries’ Alternative Suspension Accountability Program (ASAP)
Education
For their work helping suspended and expelled students, a group disproportionately represented by students of color.  ASAP provides such students with a safe and nourishing environment, helps them keep up with their curriculum so that they can get back into their original schools, and pushes them to graduate. 

Angela Maxwell and First United Methodist Church for Refresh: Hygiene and Hope
Housing
Earlier in the year, Maxwell, Homeless Outreach Specialist at Community Action House, developed and launched a program with community partners at the First United Methodist Church. Refresh: Hygiene and Hope is a shower, mail, and resource connection program that was designed based on requests from houseless clients and has become a focal point of community for this marginalized population, as well as a place where relationships can drive connections to mainstream services.

Yah-Hanna Jenkins Leys
Community Relations
In her prior role as Director of the Faith in Youth Program at Good Samaritan Ministries, Jenkins Leys recruited, trained, and supported AmeriCorps members who mentor at-risk youth in our community. Jenkins Leys currently serves as the Executive Director of Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates and also serves on the board of the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance. She is the co-founder of Women of Color GIVE, a philanthropy circle helping change the charitable giving landscape by adding more diverse voices to the philanthropy narrative.

Lupita Reyes
 Lifetime Recognition Award
 For her many contributions to the Holland community.  In 1965, Reyes created and hosted Alegria Latina, Holland’s first all-Spanish language radio show which continues today airing on 92.7 The Van. Reyes was also pivotal in creating Holland Community Health, which now provides healthcare to more than 10,000 uninsured patients. As part of HCH, she was instrumental in recruiting some of the first Hispanic physicians to the City of Holland. Reyes helped establish Community Action House in 1969, which works to meet the basic human needs in our community and advocate for migrant workers. She founded LAUP, Latin Americans United for Progress which hosts the popular Latina Fiesta, offers ESL and GED classes, and assists with language interpretation requests.  Reyes currently serves as a counsellor at LAR Counselling, which she also founded. 

Hannah Huggett
Student Social Justice Award
Currently a 9^th grade student at Black River High School, Huggett started her community service in the 6^th grade as a member of the Black River “Green Team.” Working with the Black River School board and Republic Services, she was instrumental in organizing a new trash and composting program at her school. Huggett also took the initiative to organize the recycling efforts at the Tulip Time run last spring which diverted 434 pounds of recyclable materials from the local landfill. Huggett organized the 2019 Holland Climate Rally and addressed gun violence at the 2018 March for our Lives Rally. She also participated as a panel member for the Interfaith Gun Violence Reduction Symposium in Saugatuck.