Walker residents now have a coordinated local network to find help for food, housing, mental-health and other basic needs under a new initiative called the HOPE collaborative.

Brooke Johnston, principal at Zinsser Elementary School, and Walker Police Officer Mitch Harkema described the effort on the City of Walker podcast Made in Walker, saying the collaborative brings schools, churches, businesses and the police department together to share resources and refer residents to services.

The HOPE collaborative, which its organizers said has been active since the beginning of the year, aims to create a single place for residents to find help and to improve how frontline staff connect people to specific services. "Our purpose is truly, what the initiative is called, HOPE, Helping Others Prosper Everyday," Officer Mitch Harkema said on the podcast. He said the collaborative grew out of meetings among school, faith and police partners who saw overlapping assets and unmet needs.

Johnston said the school reached out to nearby faith leaders and other community partners after noticing families who needed more than the school could provide. "We all have assets, but we all have needs. And if we can just share those things, we can really make a difference in our community and partner together," Johnston said.

Organizers described several ongoing and planned efforts. The police department maintains a community care-card initiative that keeps prepaid Visa and Meijer gift cards on hand to help families with immediate needs, Harkema said. He described a recent case in which he boxed items from a local food pantry, connected the resident with longer-term supports and later received an emotional callback about the difference the contact made.

The collaborative plans to expand the reach of an existing program called the 3 Mile Project, which runs a monthly family day where middle- and high-school students gather and parents can stay and access resource tables and speakers. Johnston said the group will try to bring speakers on topics such as social-media safety for children and household budgeting and to host community-resource booths from partners such as Network180. She said the family-day format helps parents attend because childcare is provided for their children while they talk with service providers.

There is also a small free pantry located inside Ison Fitness that community members can use without questions; Harkema encouraged residents who can donate to use that pantry and said volunteers and businesses have been responsive.

Johnston said the collaborative is working with the City of Walker to compile a centralized online hub of information on the city's website so residents and frontline workers can find contact details for partners quickly. "We're kind of working as a city level to compile all of that," she said. Harkema said officers can then direct people they contact on patrol to specific partners or make the connection themselves.

Organizers asked businesses and individuals who want to help to consider donating prepaid gift cards to the police department's community care-card fund or to share time and expertise at community events. "The easiest thing for them to get involved in right now is...the prepaid visas and bring those to the police department," Harkema said.

The collaborative includes school staff, the police department, faith-based partners and local businesses; Pastor Jim Richter of The Vine, who also serves as a chaplain to the Walker Police Department, was identified as an early partner in forming the network.

Where possible, the speakers clarified scope and limits: the collaborative is a referral and resource network rather than a new benefits provider, and funding details for sustained services were not specified during the interview. Organizers said they are building on existing programs and partner capacities rather than creating new long-term benefit programs at this stage.

For more information, organizers said updates will be posted on the City of Walker and Walker Police Department social-media channels and the city website as the hub is finalized.