What We Do
Our Vision
The key to understanding Hope's vision is to understand our view of the root cause of chronic patterns of unhealthy choices. That cause is pain. Not physical pain, but rather the deep hurt, emptiness, regret and grief caused by traumatic experiences and environments of people’s pasts. Almost every resident at Hope has deep unhealed wounds in his or her heart. We find over and over again that the pain of these wounds is the root cause of addiction, anger, broken relationships, depression, and the vast majority of the bad choices that people make.
Hope's vision, therefore, is to create a community in which hurting people find healing. We know that without healing, their thinking and the choices they make will not change. And unless their thinking and choices are transformed, they will never be able to thrive in life.
- By grace, through faith in Christ, people can gain a new identity as children of God. This new identity heals the pain life has left in their hearts.
Heal
- When people actively seek him, God transforms them into new people by changing the way they think. Through this transformation their hearts, minds, emotions and actions become more and more Christlike.
Transform
- God longs for his children not just to survive, but to thrive. As people heal and their thinking is transformed, they begin to make choices that lead to full and fulfilling lives spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, relationally, vocationally and avocationally.
Thrive
Our Mission
Hope’s mission is to engage people in intensive relationships, help them heal, and foster long-term relationships to help them transform and thrive.
About Hope Programs
Heal
"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith" (Gal 3:26)
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By grace, through faith in Christ, people can gain a new identity as children of God. This new identity heals the pain life has left in their hearts.
- Safety – people cannot heal unless they feel safe. Hope’s physical environment, procedures and rules are designed to help residents feel safe physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.
- Relationships – case managers, chaplains and other staff members work to build loving and trusting relationships with residents. Through these relationships residents gain the courage, strength and motivation to address their deepest hurts.
- Counseling – residents have access to both pastoral counseling and mental health counseling through on-site staff and through partner agencies.
Hope helps people heal through:
Transform
"Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think" (Rom 12:2)
When people actively seek him, God transforms them into new people by changing the way they think. Through this transformation their hearts, minds, emotions and actions become more and more Christlike.
- Hope helps people transform through:
- Self-evaluation – through a daily process of evaluating the choices they make, residents discover their underlying beliefs, examine the effects those beliefs have on their lives, and develop plans to transform their thinking.
- Core Classes – residents go through a six-month series of classes that examine what the Bible says about them, about God and about how life is supposed to work. These classes further help residents understand and transform their unhealthy beliefs.
- Addiction Recovery – through classes, group sessions and 12-step meetings residents are able to overcome the lie that a substance or activity is the best way to deal with the pain and hurt of life.
Thrive
"The freedom and glory of the children of God" (Rom 8:21)
God longs for his children not just to survive, but to thrive. As people heal and their thinking is transformed, they begin to make choices that lead to full and fulfilling lives spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, relationally, vocationally and avocationally.
- Hope helps people thrive through:
- Education – All Hope residents have the opportunity to participate in the Adult Education program. Some pursue a GED, some prepare for post-secondary education, and some work on job-related skills.
- Hope4Kids – The Hope4Kids program seeks to meet the developmental needs of children while they live at Hope, to create connected and effective parents, and to connect families with the support they will need after leaving Hope.
- Job Readiness – Through classes, individual mentoring and partnerships with other local agencies, Hope helps resident develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to find and maintain employment.
Basic Needs
- Housing- Hope provides emergency and transitional housing for 18 families with children, 35 single men and 16 single women. Typical length of stay is 12-18 months.
- Food- All residents are served three meals per day at no cost. In addition to feeding our residents, Hope serves lunch and dinner every day of the year at no cost to any other person from the community who comes to us.
- Health Care- Through on-site services and partnerships with local agencies and providers, Hope helps residents access both basic and specialized mental, emotional and physical health care services.
Whom We Serve
Many people in our community who experience these problems experience them episodically. They may undergo periods of poverty or depression or substance abuse, but these episodes are interspersed between relatively longer periods of more healthy and sustainable living. For example, many people who become unemployed are able to regain employment when given an opportunity and sufficient support.
There are others in our community, however, who experience poverty, unemployment, homelessness, substance abuse and poor mental and emotional health chronically. They may have periods of employment, stability and sobriety, but these are interspersed between much longer periods of unhealthy living. Even when given opportunities and support, they tend to make poor choices and they tend to stay in their patterns of unhealthy living. These are the people whom Hope Ministries serves.
How We Do It
Grace Model
"Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17)
In June 2007 Hope began working with Grace Networks International to implement their Grace Model. The Grace Model is an approach to ministry based on the following principles:
- Only God can transform and heal the deep brokenness inside of us.
- Healing and transformation is a process of identity change. By believing in the name of Christ, we receive a new identity as children of God (John 1:12). It is by receiving, understanding and living in this new identity that healing and transformation happen.
- The ministry’s role in the process of identity change is to create an environment of: Grace: Relationships are formed in which people are loved and accepted unconditionally, and they feel safe to be who they really are and talk about what they really feel. Truth: People are continually pointed to the truth as revealed in the Bible – the truth about Christ, the truth about themselves, and the truth about how to best live life. People are held accountable to this truth through a process of self-evaluation. Time: Identity transformation is not a quick fix. It is a process that takes time, and since it is God doing the transformation, it happens in God’s time not ours.
The Grace Model has had, and is having, a profound impact on Hope, our staff and our residents. It is the basis of both the heal and transform components of our heal transform thrive vision.