Happy Autumn! In Wisconsin, most of us enjoy the changing of seasons. Fall brings beautiful cozy times. As the leaves change and temperatures cool, many of us look forward to homemade soups and stews with homemade bread and baked apples.
This fall took an odd turn–we experienced hot summer weather with changing leaves. On one of the last hot weekends, we hosted a family of friends reunion at Hope & A Future. We had ice cream floats and music in the memory garden and focused on how thankful we are for our helpers, our history, the present and our dreams for the future.
Hope & A Future started with a vision and one hundred dollars in a non-profit checking account! People came along on our journey to help us move forward at pivotal moments. Families trusted us with their loved ones and we worked together to offer the best care and opportunities we could. In the first phase, our goals were for a happy, purposeful and meaningful life for our senior residents in the face of physical and mental challenges. And to offer a live-in opportunity to staff–including staff with children. And to allow parents to bring their children to work. We brought the generations together to thrive and it has been amazing! As I write this, I can hear people laughing in the next room and it makes my heart sing!
The main focus of our recent family of friends gathering was to honor those that have helped us move forward. Volunteers of all sorts, mentors, donors and families who have worked with us to get this far. We also listened to a history presentation of our property. It seems that previous owners unknowingly helped make this a perfect place to build the pilot of our vision for a new kind of neighborhood.
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- Guests attending board member, Michael Rehberg’s presentation on the history of our property.
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- Guests listening to guest speaker and lawyer Tim Radelet in the memory garden.
Reunions are great times to think about where we came from, where we are and what comes next! At Hope & A Future we have hope for our future on a number of levels. On October 10th, we will interrupt our usual party theme to host a baby shower for a much loved staff member and her expanding family! New life brings so much hope and joy. We are all looking forward to her coming to work with her baby, so we can enjoy the excitement of this new beginning!. We love having children here. And children love being here with us!
We also look forward to a future when our expanded neighborhood will bustle with the energy of even more children, families and new members in our community! If you are interested in becoming part of this anticipated community, please attend our New Beginnings Conversation on Saturday November 1st at 10AM.
I will mention that if you have spent much time around children, you know they are both fun and a lot of work. So is building a neighborhood! I have found that both are better when we work together. Weathering twists and turns together becomes an adventure.
Those of us at Hope & A Future continue to work hard on planning the next phase. Costs keep creeping upward. And we have a time line with zoning approvals–meaning we need to start building in the spring of 2026 or start over with the zoning approval process. The expansion will offer more to children, their families and seniors. Most importantly, vibrant living and the support of each other. As always, we need help from the community to move forward. Our current need is in the area of spreading the word about our project and financial support through donations. We have fun new naming opportunities for donations of $25,000. To $500,000. Maybe your group or business would like to work together with us over the next three years to reach a naming goal. If you would like to learn more, we would love to talk with you or your group. Who knows, maybe you will join in the fun by setting a goal to work on with us! A goal among groups of co workers, friends and family offers a creative outlet and an opportunity to build a stronger sense of “us”. Let us know if you want to talk about this opportunity to do something good!
Please know you are welcome to join us for the baby shower on 10/10, and the New Beginnings Conversation on 11/1. If we have not met yet, I hope we will soon! We look forward to sharing some cozy Autumn moments with old and new friends at Hope & A Future–soon!