Putting Compassion Into Practice

Michelle McCarthy is the Volunteer Coordinator at Park Place, where she oversees volunteer programs across the organization's Illinois and Indiana communities. She has managed volunteer programs for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including senior living facilities, a domestic violence crisis center, and hospice, overseeing programs as large as 250 volunteers and budgets from $50,000 to $250,000. Earlier positions include a management role at Smith Crossing and volunteer coordination at the Crisis Center for South Suburbia. Her approach is rooted in trauma-informed practice, continual education, and the belief that every volunteer brings a story worth listening to.

Before entering the human services field, Michelle owned and operated a dance studio for thirty years. She holds a degree in communications and an MFA in creative writing from Bay Path University, where she completed the program that led to her first full-length memoir. She has a book about her years of domestic violence advocacy work, forthcoming in July 2026. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in leadership administration.

Michelle grew up in Orland Park and lives in Crete, Illinois. She comes from a family of musicians and performs regularly with her siblings. She is married with three children and three grandchildren