Generations of Hope: History & Philosophy

History

Brenda Krause Eheart, while at the University of Illinois, together with her colleague Martha Bauman Power, spent a decade researching what happened to "unadoptable" children and adolescents who spend their entire youth being bounced from one foster home to another. Eheart and Power found that the adopting parents were often not equipped to deal with such deeply troubled or chronically ill young people. It wasn't because these families didn't want to do the right thing, but they lacked the necessary knowledge and support to succeed.

For nearly two years, Eheart and a group of like-minded friends developed a vision for an entire community built around these children. Their dream was to create a place where "unadoptable" children would be adopted by caring parents who would themselves be supported by one another, a small staff, as well as backup adult guardians.

Their research was the driving force behind Generations of Hope (a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation) and Hope Meadows, its first program site. Hope's mission is deceptively simple: to create a diverse intergenerational neighborhood to support families of adopted foster children. In direct contrast with traditional foster-care programs, Generations of Hope has created a place where adoptive families can get the support and information they need, children can finally find a place to call home, and elders find real purpose and meaning in their everyday lives.

Philosophy

Generations of Hope is a unique program that changes the lives of foster children, retirees, and families by enabling them to create their own neighborhood and forge their own network of caring relationships. At Hope Meadows, children, who might otherwise spend most of their childhoods in foster care, are adopted; retirees maintain a meaningful, productive life by helping younger generations, as well as one another; and families adopt children whose birth parents can no longer adequately care for them. At the heart of this neighborhood is a sense of shared purpose and values. This serves as a foundation for caring relationships among all members of the community, including staff.