We anticipate that you will see HOPE as a special service organization with caring members
committed to working with children with disabilities. Therefore, not surprisingly, optimism
and motivation are key values that led to the creation of HOPE. Founded at Wake Forest
University in October 2004, HOPE has a unique story, one that we wish you will be inspired to help.
An Observed Need
After beginning to volunteer with children with special needs at The Children’s Center for the Physically
Disabled, a special needs school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University
student Jonathan R. Barry (’07) encountered a low number of collegiate volunteers at The Children’s Center.
Inspired by the children he met, however, Jonathan noted that a sense of optimism and motivation encouraged
him to return with each visit, and as his encounters with the students of The Children’s Center increased,
he developed an innovative idea to increase volunteerism at the school—he sought to fill an observed need.
Filling that Need – the Birth of HOPE
Accordingly, Jonathan informed Mike Britt, Executive Director of
The Children’s Center, about his
initiative to form a “volunteering liaison” between Wake Forest University undergraduates and individual
students at The Children’s Center.
Together, Jonathan and Mike collaborated to form the unique program.
Aside from general volunteering, Jonathan and Mike pledged to give HOPE some more substance which would
promote and sustain active engagement with children with special needs from college students. Thus, HOPE’s
central mission resonates with a dual purpose: to provide direct mentorship of children with disabilities
and to foster indirect knowledge and respect for persons with disabilities from the college student population.
Nurturing HOPE at Wake Forest University
Initial enrollment in HOPE exceeded 50 students—breaking all estimates that Jonathan had previously made—during
the spring 2005 semester at Wake Forest University. From the success of the pilot program that single semester,
HOPE membership has proliferated significantly during subsequent semesters at Wake Forest, and since then HOPE
has also added an additional special needs schools -
The Special Children's School
- to its service circle in Winston-Salem.
From that growth,
HOPE has touched the lives of both Wake Forest University college mentors and children with special needs alike.
Expanding the HOPE Mission
During fall 2006, HOPE had over 170 active members at Wake Forest University alone. With such a large
membership, Jonathan and other members of the HOPE Leadership Team developed a novel idea to expand the
organization and establish HOPE Service Chapters at additional colleges. Therefore, HOPE applied for and
was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Claire Lockhart Follin-Mace Fund of The Winston-Salem Foundation. This
funding has been used to expand HOPE regionally within Winston-Salem. Accordingly, additional HOPE Service
Chapters are currently being developed at other Winston-Salem colleges: Forsyth Tech Community College, Salem
College, and Winston-Salem State University. Additionally, a portion of the funding has been used to establish
this website, www.hopevolunteers.org, and a recruitment campaign that will be used to encourage interested
colleges and special needs schools to establish a HOPE Service Chapter in their local area.
It’s Your Turn…
Now, we ask you to add to our history and assist us in establishing HOPE Service Chapters at other colleges.
HOPE’s got an exciting story to tell, and we look forward to you helping us tell it. Add to the HOPE
story today by learning how you can support us!
Learn more about where HOPE is headed in the near future.
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