Our 2019 focus at Hope Women’s Center is to give our clients the best trauma-informed care possible. Why? Because that’s what our clients desperately need. They need a safe place where they will be heard by someone who cares and understands the trauma they experienced as a child or as an adult has had long-reaching effects on every facet of their lives. They need someone who knows the HOPE of salvation and the transformational healing found in Jesus. Hope is full of those people.

For every Adverse Childhood Experience (or ACEs in the medical world – experiences such as neglect, abuse, the incarceration of a parent, just to name a few), a person is statistically more likely to experience disadvantages pertaining to health, relationships, and other areas of wellbeing, like education. A child with 4 or more ACEs is 2.5 times more likely to fail a grade; 4 or more ACEs are reported by 20% of students who drop out of high school. Those are significant findings, and unfortunately, they make the cycle of poverty harder to break.

Education is more than good grades and college degrees. Education is life skills training, it’s literacy and language skills for everyday essentials such as filling out forms, reading recipes or signs, speaking with a child’s teacher, or typing a resume, and it’s necessary for obtaining a job with growth potential beyond entry level wages. This is why educational classes and programming are such a huge piece of Hope’s mission. We want women learning and thriving. We want them to feel equipped, empowered, and encouraged when interacting in their communities and with their families.

J knows this. She came to Hope in a season of heavy grief after losing her boyfriend in a tragic homicide. She and her teen children didn’t feel safe where they lived, but J hadn’t finished grade school and hadn’t learned to read, so finding a job that would put the family in a better housing situation wasn’t an option. Can you imagine the HOPE J felt as the center manager read her the monthly class schedule, assuring her every program or mentoring session was free?! J came back the next day, bringing her oldest daughter with her so they could both take classes and be mentored.

However you choose to come alongside Hope, your partnership has tremendous impact. Don’t forget that. It’s an impact that affects generations – now and into the future. Join us in trusting God can and will work change and restoration into the lives and hearts of women. There is HOPE for the hurting, and that’s why we’re here.

“Don’t let your eyes fill with tears. You will be rewarded for your work!” says the Lord.

“There is hope for you…” Jeremiah 31:16a-17a

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