Editor’s Note: This is the third story in a series that will explore the state of nonprofits on Vashon, specifically how they fared in 2015 and what they have planned for 2016.

It’s that time of year again, the time when we promise ourselves to make, and keep, our New Year’s resolutions. Most of us will pick resolutions like losing weight, eating healthy, exercising more or just being happier, healthier people.

Meanwhile, members of the island’s dozens of nonprofits are also looking to 2016, but their thoughts aren’t concerned with only bettering themselves. Directors and members of Voice of Vashon (VoV), the DoVE Project, Friends of Mukai and Rj’s Kids have their sights set on bettering Vashon and the lives of the people who live here. With 2016 expected to bring a new radio studio, improvements and public access to the Mukai house, expanded domestic violence prevention programs and programming to support Millenials, the island’s nonprofits are expecting the community to notice their work in 2016.

VoV’s storefront studio, expected to open next door to Zombiez in early 2016, has been the most public of VoV’s developments this year. However, KVSH Station Manager Susan McCabe said plenty more happened this year.

“2015 was our first full year of broadcasting on KVSH 101.9 FM,” she said last week. “It was the first year we instituted this great amount of programming, all from volunteer producers.”

She said that the opening of the storefront studio will determine what exactly 2016 will bring, but the goal is to hold more community forums and expand coverage of Vashon issues. She also explained that VoV is not abandoning its Sunrise Ridge space.

“The Sunrise Ridge studio will remain as an infrastructure hub and production and instruction studio,” McCabe said. “We’re not moving; we’re expanding.”

The new year will also mark the nonprofit’s expansion into the television world. VoV currently broadcasts some programming on Comcast channel 21, but McCabe said VoV’s TV presence is going to grow.

“2016 will be the year of TV,” McCabe said. “We’re going to be delivering TV content and encourage folks to come to us with ideas.”

Also looking to expand into more areas, Vashon’s Domestic Violence organization, the DoVE Project, is planning on expanding the resources it offers to high school-age students.

DoVE Executive Director Betsey Archambault said that 2015 was a “really fantastic year full of great growth” for the organization. 2015 marked the nonprofit’s first full year in its office space at Courthouse Square, which Archambault said increased the number of people coming to see them. But perhaps 2015’s most notable offering from DoVE, according to Archambault, was the partnership with Vashon High School.

“We started working at the high school doing Lunch Dates with DoVE to promote healthy relationships and teach about warning signs. Then we had ‘smart periods’ where we had activities centered around dating and social media abuse and breaking up,” Archambault said.

The organization also began work with island-based Axiom Equine, a program that offers leadership and communication skills development by using horses as a teaching tool. The program specializes in working with domestic violence survivors, PTSD survivors, autistic individuals and at-risk youth.

“We got a $7,000 grant from the Seattle Foundation to continue that work,” Archambault said. “We’re very, very excited about continuing that aspect.”

She said 2016 will also bring the creation of a Teen Council at VHS. The project is a partnership with the school and Planned Parenthood to create a peer-to-peer education council for students about safe sex and healthy sexuality. Archambault will also have a radio show on VoV Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

While those nonprofits are looking to expand, Friends of Mukai is focusing on finally being able to restore the historic Japanese-American Mukai house. The group has been locked in a legal battle for years in an effort to gain access to perform restoration on the home and open it up to the public. While that effort has been long, the last court date will be sometime in 2016 and should end the battle in the nonprofit’s favor, according to President Lynn Greiner.

Even though the Friends of Mukai do not have legal access to the home, Greiner said that the organization had a good year of outreach and projects. From a poetry reading in early 2015 that spilled out of the Land Trust Building to outreach at the Strawberry Festival and a short film that plays at the Vashon Theatre, Greiner said the nonprofit is “very high-functioning.” But she is excited to get started on the home.

“The state awarded us $350,000 to use for whatever we need on the house and (4Culture gave us $100,000 for construction fees) even though access to the property was a condition on getting the grant. They believed in us, and that was a huge vote of confidence,” Greiner said.

The nonprofit has started work with a historic preservation company to start getting blueprints for the home’s restoration.

“Hopefully we’ll have the hearing date soon,” Greiner said. “The minute we get that (court) decision, we’ll get to work.”

With these three and dozens of other established nonprofits looking to expand their reach next year, one of the island’s newest nonprofits is working on getting more community support.

Rj’s Kids is a nonprofit that was created in late-2014 with the intention of supporting island Millenials and children. Islander Judith Neary started the organization after her son took his life in the fall of 2014. She then made it her goal to create a community center and offer classes and activities based on what island youth want and need. In 2015, she held meetings and began sponsoring martial arts classes and musical performance nights for young musicians.

“We hit the ground running,” Neary said last week.

The nonprofit’s website outlines Neary’s goals, ranging from teaching proper nutrition and mind-body balance to ultimately creating a community house where the island population can gather to “continue developing the skills necessary to thrive in today’s world.”

In 2016, Neary is hoping to continue the campaign for all of the foundation’s goals and offer more classes and resources.