Rotary Youth Exchange presentation

Momentum Center

The Momentum Center's goal is to make everyone fully visible and connected. Depression and anxiety are widespread. Every school classroom has at least one person who has attempted suicide. One out of 5 people has a disability.

Social connection is an important antidote to depression. The members of the Momentumm Center report less depression and anxiety when involved in activities. The membership fee to the center is $1/year. They offer nutrition classes, exercise, outings, and behavioral counseling.

At their Grand Haven location, they have Free Food Fridays along with showers and laundry facilities. The Grand Haven location sponsors a Prom in the spring, and the Holland location sponsors Homecoming in the fall.

A new program being launched is friendship bench. This is inspired by a program started in Zimbabwe, where trained volunteers sit on a public bench and will talk to anyone who wants to sit with them. The training for this program locally will start soon.

The club will be placing an order for Rotary gear with our Holland Rotary name on it. Some choices are shown below. Click on “Read more…” to see the pictures of the clothing. 

Contact Kate with questions or orders.

Chispa Project Update: It’s Back to School Season in Honduras!

Hola hola!

I hope your new year is off to a great start! It’s hard to believe how quickly 2026 is moving, but in Honduras, there’s no clearer sign than the fact that students are already heading back to school.

The Honduran school year runs from February through November, and schools officially opened during the first week of this month. For Chispa Project, that means one very exciting thing: our library at José Ángel Ulloa Elementary School is opening again! Books are coming out of storage, shelves are being dusted off, and cushions and bean bags are returning to create welcoming reading spaces for students.

This week, we visited José Ángel Ulloa Elementary schools to support library reopening, meet any new teachers and administrators, and re-establish our 3-1-1 Reading Goals:
•    3 in-class reading sessions per week (15 minutes each)
•    1 library visit per week
•    1 book check-out per student, per month
We also shared reading logs and resources, and addressed areas of need we identified last year.