If it has proved nothing else, the recent elections demonstrated that this country continues to be polarized. Many people feel particularly vulnerable at this time of transition, with heated political rhetoric that often overlooks our common human dignity. At the same time, my own experiences – and those of the HOPE National Resource Center team – fill us with amazement, gratitude, and optimism. In the past year, we have been in conversation with people all over the country, and I have traveled to HOPE regional convenings, workshops, and plenary speeches. Everywhere we have been, we have met people who are doing amazing work, are remarkably dedicated, and who have shared moving stories and deep insights with us. This holiday season, we want to share our optimism about the work we do together.
Positive childhood experiences are being practiced across the U.S.
In the last year or so, I have visited Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, and met with individuals from the Tennessee Department of Health, private organizations, educators, prevention specialists, parents, and healthcare providers, who joined us from organizations and government agencies across the state. Tennessee has a remarkable web of efforts dedicated to families – urban and rural, and of diverse races and ethnicities. Government leaders have led innovations to improve positive childhood experiences (PCEs) for all children in Tennessee, and have collected data that shows how these PCEs help make Tennessean adults healthy. Dozens of HOPE facilitators and several Champions working for healthcare and social service organizations across the state spread the HOPE framework.
On the West Coast, many individuals and organizations in San Diego County California have begun to use the HOPE framework. The HOPE team works with the University of California at San Diego and its federally qualified Health Center, Rady Children’s Hospital, and the San Diego County YMCAs and their 17 branches, which has become a hub of HOPE training and facilitation for the entire region. The San Diego Department of Child and Family Well-Being, with support from Casey Family Programs, is using the HOPE framework to advance their transition from mandated child abuse reporting to mandated community support. Family resource centers throughout the county are now implementing strategies based on the Four Building Blocks of HOPE. National Advisory Board member, Pradeep Gidwani, MD, MPH who has brought many people and organizations together, aspires to make San Diego County the first HOPE-Informed county in the United States.
In-person HOPE convenings spark connection, inspiration, and optimism
This past year, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, the HOPE team held local convenings in Medford, Massachusetts, Nashville, Tennessee, and Sacramento, California. The Sacramento meeting was sponsored by First 5 Sacramento. Community representatives asked for quarterly trainings to be led by graduates of their parent leadership council. Many of these parents have turned their own lived experience into a positive source of change for other parents in similar situations. The HOPE framework fuels their miraculous optimism, energy, and insight.
Closer to home in Massachusetts, community meetings in Medford and Stoughton each brought together folks who used the gatherings to develop their own agendas to improve access to positive childhood experiences in their communities. In Keene, New Hampshire, the room was packed at a benefit breakfast sponsored by The Keene Housing Kids Collaborative. Bank presidents, public health professionals, doctors, and police officers gathered to support children. A piano teacher spoke about how she found meaning in teaching children from public housing projects – the relationships she had developed, the warm and accepting environment she created, and she had helped these young people use music to engage people. Wow! She was followed by a ten-year-old, clearly uncomfortable in his pressed white shirt and blazer, who got up the courage to play in front of the crowd.
Finding inspiration in the people spreading the HOPE Framework
In Kane County, Illinois, I met an adoptive mother who had the generosity of spirit to adopt four siblings from the same family who had languished in separated foster homes. She talked to me about each of them, with the love and insight that all children need.
I spent part of election day and the day after in Wichita, Kansas, leading a workshop for the Kansas Children’s Services League. For years, they have offered innovative and effective support for children throughout the state, mobilizing both government agencies and the private sector. The elections have polarized people around the country, but in Kansas people came together to support each other and the children and families in the state. At a small dinner with leadership, I met one leader who is a Republican, and nearby a young leader who identifies as non-binary, and was shaken by the election results. Seeing them – and their colleagues, working together to support children filled me with hope.
We have led professional education series for individuals in mental health, social services, and pediatrics in New Jersey, Georgia, and around the country. We have worked with researchers from government agencies and academia, and met with funders and community activists. Everywhere we look, we feel the deep empathy, dedication, understanding and joy of the people who work with children and families.
Looking ahead with optimism that HOPE will continue to grow in all communities
So, as I think back on the last year, I find myself optimistic. All around the country, and around the world, there are literally thousands of people who have faced enormous personal and professional challenges who work every day to support every child and every family everywhere. These people come from every walk of life, and every political persuasion. We share deep respect for human dignity, and recognize that the HOPE framework offers a vehicle to channel that respect into change to improve lives.
The HOPE National Resource Center has such deep gratitude for them, their inspiring stories and brilliant ideas. We look forward with confidence in what the future holds as our movement grows.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy and hopeful 2025.
