It's National Volunteer Week, and groups are spotlighting some of the benefits of volunteering, both for individuals and the communities they serve.

The COVID-19 crisis affected all aspects of everyday life, including most people's ability to volunteer. But since the early days of the pandemic, when in-person volunteering ground to a halt, it has rebounded significantly.

Gretchen Stallings, executive director of Volunteer New Hampshire, said a big reason many folks choose to volunteer is because they like giving back to their community.

"If you're not sure where or how you want to give back, start with your passion," she said. "Is there a problem in your community that you'd like to see solved, or a cause that you feel strongly about?"

Research from the Mayo Clinic Health System has found volunteering also can provide a sense of purpose, teach new skills and help build and nurture relationships, as well as lower rates of depression and anxiety, especially for people in retirement.

Volunteer New Hampshire was created by the Legislature to help connect individuals with businesses, nonprofits and governments for volunteer opportunities. Stallings noted that the New Hampshire State House alone has more than 400 volunteer positions.

"It really does take everyone to create the most optimal living conditions in a community," she said. "Volunteering may enable you to awaken dormant skills, or practice a hobby in a more meaningful way."

She said their website, volunteernh.org, includes a Volunteer Resource Center and an online database called Get Connected, where nonprofits advertise their volunteer offerings and individuals can find the right fit for them.

Small-business owners and entrepreneurs in a handful of towns across the state have resources at their fingertips to help renovate and reuse historic downtown buildings, as part of a regional effort to jump-start local economic development and attract new residents and tourism.

Emily Wilson-Hauger, director of programs and partnerships for the Woodlands Development Group, a nonprofit real estate developer based in Elkins and part of the Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies program. She said rural business owners face numerous challenges.

"We have a lot of folks who maybe don't have any credit, or they don't have a lot of collateral," Wilson-Hauger observed. "When they want to start a business, that's really hindering them from accessing any capital."

The communities of Cowen, Elkins, Franklin, Marlinton, Parsons, Petersburg, Richwood and White Sulphur Springs are all participants in the program.

Ray Moeller, economic redevelopment specialist for the Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University, pointed out rural main streets often suffer from commercial withdrawal from historic centers to places near highways or strip malls on the edge of town where big-box chains are located.

He said the program can help residents access building assessment, along with cleanup and remediation resources.

"That early analysis that allows them to know whether this historic downtown building, that has maybe been vacant for a while, is viable for reuse," Moeller explained.

Kaycie Stushek, community development Specialist for the West Virginia Community Development Hub, said she hopes individuals who want to start or expand a business in participating communities connect with them.

"This initiative also really fosters the growth and knowledge of entrepreneurs who want to take that step into doing development of a project in their community," Stushek emphasized. "It walks hand-in-hand through the process with them of getting those buildings predevelopment ready."

Small businesses that suffered damage or destruction from the recent historic flooding in Eastern Kentucky can get one-on-one assistance as they try to get back on their feet.

Seven nonprofits and the Small Business Administration are operating Business Recovery Centers in Hazard, Manchester, and Whitesburg.

Chief Operating Officer of the group Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), Joshua Ball, said running a small business is challenging under normal circumstances - let alone in the aftermath of a disaster.

"The weight of trying to make payroll every two weeks to now having a flood," said Ball, "losing your home, losing all your belongings, losing your business. We just wanted to be there so that we can listen to those impacted and get them the resources."

The centers are located at Hazard Community and Technical College, Eastern Kentucky University - Manchester, and Appalachian Groundswell.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. until August 20. More details are online at 'soar-ky.org.'

Along with assistance from the Small Business Administration and FEMA, local organizations are offering grants, additional loan assistance and business coaching.

Ball said they hope to get money into the hands of business owners so they can begin to rebuild and plan for the future.

"Recovery's just not cleaning up the mud and wiping down the walls," said Ball. "It's going to take some of our communities and some of our businesses months, if not years, to fully recover. And we're thinking about ways to serve them as long as it takes."

Ball said the collaboration is working as efficiently as possible to quickly meet the needs of those directly affected by flooding. He noted that the people of Eastern Kentucky are resilient and will persevere.

"And while it seems like it's dark right now because of loss of lives and businesses, you know, it is tough," said Ball. "But the people of Eastern Kentucky, the people of central Appalachia, we always come together, we always roll our sleeves up, we always bounce back."

A Las Vegas nonprofit helping women recover from substance addiction, domestic violence, human trafficking and homelessness has received AARP's prestigious Purpose Prize for 2023.

The group, called Unshakeable, will also get a $10,000-dollar grant to support its work.

Debbie Isaacs, founder and president of Unshakeable, who was named as a Purpose Prize fellow, said Unshakeable will serve about 100 women this year.

"Our clients, by the time they finish, we hear them make statements of, 'I am capable, I am strong, I am ready. I am confident, I am unstoppable,' " Isaacs noted.

Isaacs explained Unshakeable helps women put their past aside and return to the workforce, with some in so-called "survival jobs" and others back on a career path. The agency provides a series of in-depth workshops designed to reignite clients' confidence and sense of purpose. The Purpose Prize has been honoring people over age 50 who make a real difference in their communities since 2005.

Isaacs pointed out the grant will help many women get back on their feet, some of whom need the most basic essentials.

"$10,000 provides continued help for our programming," Isaacs emphasized. "It can be helping with transportation or child care vouchers, or a set of eyeglasses, or even a bed and a mattress."

AARP said it will celebrate fifteen Purpose Prize winners and fellows from around the country at an awards ceremony in October, in Washington, D.C.