Chasing Hope Projects
Therapeutic Houses
The core mission of the Foundation is to establish safe and nurturing supportive houses for children through high school graduation who are attending local therapeutic day schools.
For children whose social and emotional needs require more intensive support outside a classroom, a therapeutic house located within their home community provides an attractive alternative to relocating to a therapeutic boarding school.
Each house is unique in that it provides 24/7/365 support for a maximum of four children by a highly-trained, masters-level, live-in house manager and similarly credentialed shift staff. Also, the residents of each house will be enrolled in a therapeutic day school of their choice and are working toward completing high school.
Another unique feature of each house is the level of family engagement. Parents, siblings, and extended family are welcome at the house at any time. Each house has an extensive social calendar, which includes family outings, meal preparation, holiday celebrations and volunteering for house projects (such as spring cleaning, gardening and staff appreciation activities).
Families also maintain relationships with their clinicians of choice, while dental appointments, haircuts and personal shopping remain within the family’s span of control.
By working with local therapeutic schools, the Foundation works to foster career development, mentoring and internship opportunities for our families. Using strength-based criteria to match employer needs with family wishes, we seek as many chances to have our children participate in work that is meaningful to them as an essential component of a full life.
Community Engagement
At the heart of our work is human connection and meaningful work. As such, we are driven to reach out to local businesses and civic organizations in order to identify opportunities for us to contribute.
Working with faith-based organizations, we seek to join efforts that support those in need, particularly providing daily, essential and direct support to families. Whether it is volunteering our time and energy on a regular basis for a group which provides overnight accommodation and meals, or lending a hand for an annual event which benefits local programming, the Foundation is dedicated to being a strong and involved member of their community.
Within each community we call home, we seek local partners to help us enhance the lives of our families. One of the many resources whose expertise we respect are full-service grocers. From assisting with menu development, nutritional education and shopping on a budget, our local grocers are a tremendous source of information for our houses. These grocers can also present opportunities for career development in cooking, baking and store management for those families who express an interest.
As a committed neighbor, we believe that we should pay our fair share of property taxes. Contrary to custom, the Foundation does not seek any exemption from township, city or state property taxes. Our philosophy is that in order to be a full participant in one’s community, we should pay our fair share, as in doing so demonstrates a dedication to making a contribution. Additionally we plan to be involved in local projects, which might include a “Community Clean Up Day”, attending civic group functions and farmer’s markets, as well as being of service to those neighbors in need.