Recently, I was at a community event for nonprofit organizations in our area. It was my first time representing Good Samaritan to our community, and I quickly noticed a recurring question that seemed to pop up anytime a person approached the display. A person would look at the table, read our name, and say, “I’ve heard of Good Samaritan,” to which I’d break a giant grin. Before I could respond, they’d continue, “What exactly does Good Samaritan do?”  

“What exactly does Good Samaritan do?”  

For more than 50 years, Good Samaritan has worked to help unlock opportunities for the most vulnerable in our community. We continue that mission today in our work to end homelessness.

More than 200 men, women, and children experience homelessness every night in Ottawa County. They sleep in shelters, in a car, or outside. Even more people in Holland, Grand Haven, Hudsonville, and our other area communities don’t meet the definition of “homeless” but don’t have housing. Instead, they’re sleeping at a friend’s house, scraped enough money together to pay for a hotel, or found other arrangements to keep them from being unsheltered.

Good Samaritan serves everyone living in Ottawa County through supportive housing services and rental assistance to households in crisis. We work diligently to provide consistent, equitable, and timely services to meet the needs of anyone experiencing homelessness or facing eviction.

And, through supportive programming, we provide a safe, encouraging space for people to create and set goals that move them from just surviving to thrive while a circle of support surrounds them.

We’re ending homelessness in Ottawa County. 

At Good Samaritan, our goal is simple, but the work is immense: we want to see the end of homelessness and poverty in Ottawa County. 

So when a person asks, “what exactly do you do?” it’s exciting to have the opportunity to explain the vital work of Good Samaritan.

We believe housing is the foundation for stability and flourishing. And as the central housing resource in Ottawa County, we serve each person experiencing homelessness or the threat of homelessness in our community.

In Good Samaritan’s most recent fiscal year, our team connected to 7,974 vulnerable community members on their journey to sustainable housing. Taking lessons from the launch of our pandemic-era eviction prevention program, we’ve launched a permanent program to assist tenants and work with landlords to avoid eviction. And we’ve expanded our supportive programming to serve even more community members on their path to thriving community members.

New look, same mission.  

That’s why you’ll notice a refreshed look and feel the next you interact with Good Samaritan.  

To help us clarify our messaging, we enlisted the help of a local branding agency, Boileau & Co. The Good Samaritan and Boileau teams worked together to create an updated look, feel, and language that clearly articulates our work to end homelessness.  

The purpose of this new look is to provide clarity for everyone. We want people in our region—including the churches, organizations, and agencies we partner with, and men and women in need—to know precisely how Good Samaritan serves this community. Through its visuals and language, the updated look clarifies the work we do and whom we serve.  

Why a new look?  

You’ll likely notice these updates as you interact with Good Samaritan. But any changes you experience have one goal: to work toward ending homelessness in our community. 

Our new look, including the logo, represents our key priorities. We work to provide stable housing, but our work is more than a home. We guide people on their journey to community—and stable housing is foundational to a sense of community.

We want to ensure everyone can access Good Samaritan’s services and guidance when needed. We want to remove any distractions or confusion about how Good Samaritan serves our community. And we want to be clear that we’re unlocking opportunities so everyone can access safe, sustainable, affordable housing.  

Thank you for being a vital partner in this work to end homelessness!

—Bryan Haley
Director of Marketing & Communications, Good Samaritan