Hope Stories

people accomplishing together

Our stories lift up the voices and celebrate the lives of people who are engaged in community to learn, lead and help shape their community.


	TreShawn a learner	TreShawn was in the 1st grade when he started Learning in Community last fall. He was having trouble with reading and sounding out the words. At the end of the first semester in school he showed a little improvement. At the end of the year he was named the “Most Improved Reader”. TreShawn’s mother explains, “It is hard sometimes for TreShawn to open up to people and he bonded with a volunteer. He was able to open up with her and succeed to the best of his abilities.
	Tia a parent and a leader	Many parents at Hope think the most important thing they can do for their children is be a leader. Tia is one of those parents. She is a graduate of the Hope teen and young adult community organizing group named SPEAC. Tia shares that SPEAC not only changed her life by giving her a strong voice but has made a difference in her daughters’ lives. She says, “My work with SPEAC put a fire in them and has opened their eyes at a young age. It has taught them that they have an influence on what happens in their community.” Tara, age 12 and Teadra, age 14 are involved the Saturday Girls Empowerment Project. Together, Tia and her children are finding their voices and thinking differently about what kind of roles they can play in their community.
	Marzia a community member	Six days a week for 5 years, Marzia studied English, writing and math at Hope. In 2003, she and her four children moved to Minneapolis from Afghanistan and became tenants of Hope Community. When she first arrived, Marzia remembers how hard it was to understand English. Today she speaks and reads English fluently. Marzia’s eldest daughter is a nurse’s assistant and a graduate of Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Her son aspires to be an engineer. And her two youngest children are involved in Hope’s tutoring program with Project for Pride in Living. Over the years, Marzia’s community has grown – daily HLC classes, summer involvement in the neighborhood garden and morning visits by the fireplace with the Hope staff. When asked what Hope means to her, Marzia expresses, “The people of Hope have become like a family to me.”
	La'Kisha giving back to Hope	La’Kisha recently returned to be a volunteer at Hope because as a young girl she often joined Hope’s original hospitality house for community dinners. It “was more than a place for me to go…it’s where I felt safe.” Today as a volunteer tutor for Hope, La’Kisha is fulfilling a promise she made to Hope’s founder – a promise to give back to the community. “Community,” La-Kisha expresses, “is where family, spirituality and the individual come together as a whole.” La’Kisha lives with her family in the Phillips neighborhood. She volunteers with Hope’s Learning in Community – her daughters are participants in the program.
	Omari a mentor	When asked to share a story about his volunteer work at Hope, Omari recalls a moment when he was asked to share with youth leaders at Hope what it is like to be an African-American mentor. He said, “Until that moment I didn’t realize how a big a role I am really playing in the community as a mentor – not just as a black man but as a father figure.” Omari started volunteering over two years ago with Youth in the City. Most recently he worked with youth at Hope to create a documentary film about a historical event in African-American history. He states, “I saw a lot of kids change through the process. With each workshop, they met new people and started to put more of themselves into it. It changed their perspectives.” A father, activist, mentor and community member, Omari aspires to his belief that, “It takes one person to change the world.”
	Aamira a young leader	“Other youth programs,” Aamira says, “helped me but didn’t really help with life. And I think at Hope it did.” Last spring, Aamira, age 11 entered a national poetry contest as a birthday present to her mom and won. She read her poem aloud to a crowd of people. The theme of her poem was, How Can I Change the World. A year before she entered the contest Aamira was very shy and speaking in front of people was challenging. She says, “It was kind of scary.” A friend told her about the Girls Empowerment Project at Hope Community and so she dedicated her Saturday mornings to learning about voice, performance, poetry and leadership with other girls her age. Aamira believes it was the program that helped her win the poetry contest. She says, “Hope made me feel better about myself.”
	Bonita a neighbor	Bonita has been part of the Phillips neighborhood for a long time – 30 years. In 2009, she moved into a one-bedroom apartment in a Hope building. She said it feels good to have her own apartment. The affordable rent and stability has made it possible for her to return to school to be a certified nurse aid. Bonita is a leader in a tenant group at Hope called Community Getting Together. The group brings tenants together to build community. She likes to know her neighbors. She says, “I don’t want to just live in a building and never communicate. I want people to have a comfortable feeling about where they are living.”
	Bob and Lorraine a story of giving	Bob and Lorraine Melcher have been connected with Hope Community since our beginning in 1977. For over 3 decades Bob and Lorraine have continued to support the work of Hope. In 2009 they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. As a tribute to this special event, each of their children made a gift to Hope Community. It was a great honor for us to be part of this wonderful celebration.
	Munira a mother and a leader	“We feel like one family in one place,” explained Munira when asked how living at Hope has changed her life. Munira grew up in Sudan and moved to the United States in 1999. She and her three young children have lived at Hope since 1995. Her eldest child, Fatima is 14 years old and for the past four years has spent most Saturday mornings with her peers at Hope’s Youth in the City mentoring program. Her young brother, Yaisin, age 9, looks forward to Learning in Community where he spends time reading and writing with a mentor alongside his friends. Munira also has been active at Hope and is a community leader in Hope’s tenant group that organizes activities to bring neighbors together. For Munira and her family Hope has been much more than a place to live. She says it’s a place where people care about one another and where she has built a real home for her family.
	Courtney a mentor	Courtney has been one of the most active youth in Hope’s music program. In his second year he became an assistant teacher, helping to mentor new youth. He writes songs that speak to people, but explains, “That wasn’t how I started to express myself. Hope taught me that I can write about everything. I learned how to talk about my emotions in a way that people understand.” Courtney and his family live in the Phillips Neighborhood. He is pictured here with his father who he says, “is behind me 100%.” Hope’s Music Production and Art of MC’ing program brings youth together around common interests and connects them to community. Through creative expression, youth find and lift up their voices.
	Willie A community volunteer	Willie remembers his mom teaching neighborhood kids how to read – and as the reason they went back to school. “When I was growing up in Greenwood, Mississippi, kids missed a lot of school. One day my mom went to the dollar store and bought books for the kids next door. For the next month she read with them every day.” These memories of his mom helping others, Willie said, taught him to share himself and be a part of community. Willie has been a resident of Hope since 2006. He is a volunteer tutor with Hope’s community-literacy program and is part of a community leadership group. He is also an active member of his church and works at the Veterans Administration Hospital.
	Fatima a young leader	An eighth grader at Folwell Middle School, Fatima has been involved in Hope’s Youth in the City mentoring program every Saturday since she moved to Hope over 4 years ago. “Saturdays are when I see my good friends from the neighborhood,” she explains, “because my school is far away.” She continues to express what she enjoys about living at Hope, “People are interactive – they talk to each other. It’s nice.” Fatima especially likes history, math and science. She is on the volleyball team at school and does community service through the YMCA. She is learning about documentary filmmaking in Hope’s mentoring program.