About VAC
For over 50 years, VAC has been a steady presence in Columbia that shows up when neighbors need help most. We provide immediate assistance with food and other essential needs that keep families stable and housed. But we're more than an emergency safety net—we're a convener, bringing together community members, volunteers, and partner organizations to create collective solutions to complex problems.
We envision a new reality where our community takes radical responsibility for each other.
VAC operates on the empowerment model: we provide options and support, but clients stay in the driver's seat of their own lives. When someone doesn't know where their next meal is coming from they can't focus on long-term stability, employment, or healing. We remove those immediate barriers with dignity and without judgment, creating space for people to breathe, plan, and move forward on their own terms.
Our approach is built on accessibility and empowerment. We meet people where they are—whether that's at our resource center, through our shelter services at VAC Opportunity Campus, or by connecting them to the right partner organization. We believe that when the community takes radical responsibility for each other, we all thrive.
VAC doesn't just provide services—we provide a different philosophy of service.
At VAC + VAC OC, our approach is built on three core principles that guide everything we do: the empowerment model, trauma-informed care, and housing-first principles. These aren't just buzzwords—they represent a fundamentally different way of serving our community.
The Empowerment Model
People know what they need—our job is to support their choices, not make them.
Trauma-Informed Care
We recognize that behavior is communication, and crisis isn't a character flaw.
Housing-First Principles
Stable housing is the foundation, not the reward.
Responding to the basic needs of individuals since 1969.
Voluntary Action Center began in 1969 when three determined community members, Hazel Riback, Gertrude Marshall, and Helen Mitchell, noticed a gap. Local volunteers were eager to serve, yet there was no central place to connect people to the needs in our community. So, they created the Volunteer and Information Center, operating out of a small office with morning-only hours and a whole lot of heart.
By 1971, the demand for services was growing. The organization incorporated as a nonprofit, hired its first director, and received its first United Way funding. Two years later, we joined the National Center for Voluntary Action and officially became Voluntary Action Center (VAC).
As the needs of our neighbors continued to evolve, so did VAC. What began primarily as volunteer coordination expanded into providing information, referrals, and direct advocacy. Over time, we identified critical service gaps, especially around urgent, everyday needs, and began offering emergency assistance with essentials like housing support, utilities, transportation, clothing, and prescription help.
In 2011, after decades of steady leadership from Cindy Mustard, Nick Foster became VAC’s Executive Director and continued guiding the organization’s growth and partnerships. In 2019, VAC proudly celebrated 50 years of service in Boone County.
Still Evolving. Still Responding. Still Here.
For more than half a century, VAC has been a constant, connecting people to help, and connecting helpers to impact. And as long as Boone County has needs, we’ll keep showing up. No one should face hardship alone.
What makes us different?
Many organizations operate with good intentions but don't always meet people where they are.
We do it differently.
We believe that people are the experts on their own lives. We provide options, support, and resources—but the person stays in the driver's seat. We don't require sobriety to access shelter. We don't make people prove they're worthy of basic needs. We lower barriers because we know that when people have safety and stability first, everything else becomes possible.
Join us in showing up
When our team and community are committed to one another, there is no limiting what can be achieved for all of us. We're not just solving today's crisis—we're building tomorrow's possibility.
Get Involved
VAC’s next chapter of growth and innovation.
Ed Stansberry serves as Executive Director of VAC with a bold vision and a deep respect for the legacy that built it. As only the third Executive Director in more than five decades, Ed leads with both forward momentum and steady gratitude, never missing an opportunity to recognize the leaders, staff, volunteers, and community partners whose groundwork allows him to stand where he does today.
A dynamic and trailblazing leader, Ed is guiding VAC into its next chapter of growth and innovation. Under his leadership, the organization is expanding services, strengthening partnerships, and advancing transformative initiatives like the VAC Opportunity Campus—a coordinated, community-centered expansion designed to broaden access to shelter, resources, and long-term stability for individuals and families across Boone County.
Ed’s leadership is rooted in both strategy and heart. He understands that meaningful growth honors the past while building boldly for the future. Ed is committed to ensuring VAC remains responsive, innovative, and deeply rooted in the people it serves. He is positioning VAC not only to meet today’s needs but to anticipate tomorrow’s.