Grand Opening Celebration

Our grand opening celebration is almost here. On Friday we will celebrate the transformation of our Independence campus, and the hard work and accomplishments of so many.

Our campaign included constructing a new Therapy building and renovating the four existing buildings on our campus. What an incredible change. The campus is absolutely beautiful and we are so excited about all of the services we will be able to provide our clients.

The therapy building includes three group rooms that are large enough to accommodate the growing number of clients seeking our therapy services. It includes three observation rooms to monitor students and interns in their work with our clients.

The building also includes a workout room and large space for kids to play when they are not able to be outdoors. We are so excited to be able to focus on the physical health of our clients and allow for opportunities that we have not been able to provide previously.

Our shelter was completely remodeled. It’s an absolutely beautiful space for the clients to live in as they recover from the trauma that they have experienced.

The old therapy building has a completely new function - it now houses our Community Partnership Building, which includes a medical/dental room, as well as a salon. We can now provide a well-equipped space for our community partners to offer their services to our clients, helping them to address their many needs.

We are thrilled to be at this juncture of our journey and are so grateful to everyone who has helped us to get here.

Completion of Our Capital Campaign

In December 2009 the Kresge Foundation granted Hope House a $600,000 challenge grant for our Building Hope capital campaign for the construction and renovations to the Independence campus. To qualify for the gift, we had to complete the remaining fundraising for the campaign within one year.

We’re excited to announce that we have successfully satisfied the conditions of the Kresge challenge. This means that we have successfully raised $5,000,000 for our capital campaign and have completed the fundraising portion of the campaign!

The construction on the campus is well underway with the shelter and daycare renovations already completed. Work is underway in the Court and Legal Services Building as well as the Community Partnership Building. The new Therapy building (shown above) has the walls and roof in place so work will not be interrupted with any inclement weather.

Work is progressing along very well and we should be completed with all aspects of the campaign by spring of 2011. We will have a ribbon cutting and grand opening once the work is completed and weather is suitable for an outside gathering.

We are so appreciative of all of the support that we have received from the community that has allowed us to make these improvements so we can continue to provide quality services to our clients.

Ground Breaking for Building Hope Capital Campaign

I am very excited to be writing about the ground breaking for our construction project on our Independence campus. We have worked so hard on the Building Hope Capital Campaign and have made tremendous progress in the past year. This progress is due to our dedicated committee, and the dedication and commitment of Chief Development Officer, Nancy DuVall. Nancy has worked tirelessly to see the campaign to its completion.

The ground breaking ceremony is a time for us to celebrate all of the accomplishments and the excitement of the new construction and the many changes that will follow. I am very excited about the improvements that will take place on the campus that will allow the clients a place of serenity and safety as they stay with us and begin to rebuild their lives. They deserve a place of beauty and comfort; a place that will energize them and give them the peace of mind to work through the issues they must face to live free of abuse.

The contractor estimates construction of the new therapy building will take 9 months, so if (when) we stay on schedule, we will be in our new therapy building in early 2011. The renovations to the existing buildings are not expected to take as long as constructing a whole new building, so we will be enjoying and utilizing the newly renovated spaces in Shelter and the Early Childhood Center in 2010.

The Community Partnership Building will open as soon as the therapists are able to move into their new building. How exciting to be able to offer the clients this new space which will better meet their needs and a place for community businesses to come and partner with us to offer services to our clients.

We still have work to do to finish the campaign; we still need to raise $430,000 to complete the $5,000,000 campaign. We have tax credits available for anyone who is interested in making a gift to the campaign. If you are interested in learning more about the campaign or would like to join us on April 9th at 10AM for the ground breaking ceremony, contact Nancy at nduvall@hopehouse.net.