Building Strong Community

Hope Community Listening Session

Belief in People
Hope staff are catalysts, teachers, organizers, community builders. People are citizens, leaders, and learners. As we rebuild our physical neighborhood into a place that nurtures children and families, we know it’s important to create a place in which people of all ages and backgrounds can come together and engage with others in a variety of opportunities.

Our Approach
Building relationships and connections is at the core of our neighborhood revitalization work in the Phillips community. We invest deeply in our Community Listening model because it creates opportunities for leadership and dialogue across cultures and informs our work. For example, we know that people are willing to work together to improve the neighborhood, but are tired of being asked to come to meetings which never seem to result in lasting changes. People have also told us they want to live in this neighborhood because it’s diverse and has good transportation, but they worry that as it is redeveloped they won’t have anywhere to live. From the beginning our work has been a response to what we hear in the community and continues to be shaped by the diverse people who live in the neighborhood.

From Vision to Action
At Hope people come together around common goals through organizing and leadership development to build their own futures. We put youth at the center through our Youth Leadership opportunities and also support adults to develop critical skills in the Hope Learning Center. There are many ways for people come together at Hope, bringing their talent, curiosity and possibility. Tenants gather to address neighborhood safety issues, parents, kids and neighbors celebrate each other’s cultures and accomplishments and community members volunteer as mentors. On a daily basis, relationships and networks grow. A tenant participates in a community listening session, and then brings her children to a leadership group. An adult student learns English and later takes part in a tenant safety meeting. People are seeing familiar faces in meetings and on the street. And so on. Over time, people are building trust and forming relationships.