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Upcoming Events
Siblings Lucas, Lucy, and Laura (pictured above) are Starr Grass Band! They enjoy using their talents to make a difference. Read more here and come on over to support a wonderful family of musicians this Friday, September 13th!
Click here to learn more about upcoming events!
*Please note that in lieu of the second Friday of the month parties in October and November, we will have our annual Oktoberfest on Friday, October 25th and Friendsgiving on Friday, November 22nd.
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Volunteer Spotlight
August was full of birthday celebrations for us at Hope & A Future, one of which being Mary's - a faithful volunteer whom we love dearly. Full story below!
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Mary has been volunteering at Hope & A Future weekly for a couple of years now. Our afternoons with Mary have involved everything from model trains, games, and crafts to movies, lunch outings, and so much more. She is a sweet, creative soul who fills the house with her joy and warmth every time she walks through the door. True to her giving nature, she took US our for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery for HER birthday and insisted that we didn't pay a dime. The residents were delighted and enjoyed watching their toppings being mixed into their ice cream on the cold stone counters for the first time. Everything is a party with Mary and this was no exception. She brought hats for everyone that we wore as we posed for pictures with Greenway Station's Bucky Badger sculpture, and as luck might have it, there were therapy dogs outside of the creamery when we finished our ice cream! All of our volunteers should be celebrated with fun like this.
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T.I.I.N. Talk
Therapeutic, Interactive,
Intergenerational Neighborhood
In this month's blog post, Karin reflects on change as our wonderful summer interns, Dante and Audrianna, return to school, beloved staff member, Grant, moves on to the next phase of his life, and Hope & A Future presses on into the next phase of development with the help of our ever-growing, ever-evolving family of friends. It seems that as our memory garden blossoms, so does our growth as the first Therapeutic, Interactive, Intergenerational Neighborthood.
Full story here!
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Resident Update
As we say "goodbye" to longtime live-in staff member and chef, Grant, we say "hello" to four new chickens at Hope & A Future. Full story below!
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Hope & A Future is a stepping stone for some live-in staff members and a permanent residence for others. The former was the case for Grant, who has evolved and grown in many ways during his time living at the house as our gourmet chef, handy man, playwright and director among many things. It's always bittersweet to see someone fly the coupe, but we wish him all the best in his future endeavors and are certain that we will see a lot more of him in the future.
Speaking of flying the coupe, our chicken coupe is a little fuller since labor day, when Ruthie (our art and activity therapist) took the residents on a trip to Little Sugar River Farm, where they collected four new chickens, affectionately referred to as the "cinnamon queens". A friend of Ruthie's has been living at the farm for a few years and accumulated quite a few chickens during that time. Because he will soon be moving off of the property, it was time to re-home his chickens. Knowing about Hope & A Future, he was delighted when we offered to take up to four of his chickens, so he gave his four favorites to us at no charge. The only catch was that we had to go to the farm and collect the chickens ourselves, so Ruthie brought her husband Blaine, and with Matt they put on quite a show for residents as they gathered the chickens! The girls are sweet, gentle, and have integrated nicely into their new home with us. The seasons are changing and so are we! Goodbye, Grant. Hello, Cinnamon Queens.
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Pictured above (from top): Grant cooking; Grant preparing to make a sick resident smile; Rick, Brad, and Grant after a play they put on for the house.
Pictured below: Matt with one of the cinnamon queens; Ruthie's husband, Blaine and Matt at Little Sugar River Farm; Ruthie and Rick getting the chickens ready to be released into their new home at Hope & A Future
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