Hope Meadows

Hope Meadows is a unique residential community – a five-block small-town neighborhood where neglected and abused children who have been removed from their biological parents for their safety, find a permanent and caring home, as well as grandparents, playmates and an entire neighborhood designed to help them grow up in a secure and nurturing environment.

Hope Meadows is a place where children, adoptive parents and surrogate grandparents develop supportive relationships capable of healing the hurts of abuse and neglect - a place where three generations care for and learn from each other.

Hope senior and children at play View from the IGC.
Photo © 2006 by Alex Harris.

Reinventing Retirement

Hope Meadows is intergenerational by design. Hope seniors, who serve as “honorary grandparents,” agree to volunteer at least six hours per week – in turn they receive reduced rent on spacious three-bedroom apartments. “The seniors are absolutely integral to the healing of these children,” emphasizes Hope’s founder Brenda Krause Eheart, “and the children provide real meaning and purpose in the daily lives of the seniors.”

Hope Parents: A Commitment for Life

Hope Meadows’ adoptive parents go through stringent screening and background checks, including fingerprinting and in-depth interviews. Only 10% of all the applicants from potential parents are accepted. The parents must be licensed by the state and go through rigorous training. At Hope Meadows, they expect to adopt the children that come to them.

The Intergenerational Center (IGC)

The Intergenerational Center (IGC) is a facility intended to be the center of social, cultural and educational activity for Hope Meadows. The center supports and encourages intergenerational interactions. It is the gathering place or the “hub” for community events... (more)

Hope in the Media

Generations of Hope has been featured in local and national news media, books, magazines, and videos since its inception in 1994… (more)

To join the Hope Meadows community

For an application to become a Hope Senior or
a Hope Parent, please contact us.

Learn more about Hope Meadows through these links:

Wall of America Foundation: American Mural Project
(select State Collaborative Projects, click on Illinois in the map)
WK Kellogg Foundation: "Three Generations of Hope"
Civic Ventures: "Hope Meadows: Raising a Neighborhood "