Success is the Currency of Hope
Hope is more than an attitude because it responds to facts about situations and possibilities.¹
But hope is more than mere expectations; it reflects and focuses on realistic individual desires. The emotion emerging from hope and desire is the energy necessary for success. Incremental, small, and strategic success can form a virtuous cycle of hope and accomplishment.
This is more than an intellectual exercise. We can create a trail of reward and hope for the weary to find home.
Everyone instinctively knows the power of hope when present and the barren desolation of hopelessness. The social health of people and the community depends on fostering and maintaining realistic hope.
One real-world example is the independent faith-driven activities and the mutually supporting relationship between Church at the Park and Catholic Community Services on Portland Road in Salem. These organizations are beacons of hope, demonstrating the power of collective action and shared responsibility in creating positive change.
At Portland Road, homeless families receive the support they need to start their journey toward self-sufficiency. There is shelter, support, and learning. If you want to see hope in action, check out the school bus picking up the children for school. This foundation of small but hard steps leads us to a realization that a better life is possible. Hope grows in every crack in the concrete at the Church at the Park’s Portland Road site.
But it does not end there. These families need support for the next step of their journey. You cannot go from living on the street to a single-family home in one step. Success requires a whole-person or whole-family approach. We need a connected community of many providers and capabilities to do that.
When families are ready, multiple organizations support their success, including transitional living facilities such as St. Joseph Family Shelter, the Catholic Community Services Fostering Hope Initiative, the Kroc Center, and many more. Hope is fuel that grows with every small success.
Of course, Church at the Park and Catholic Community Services are more than partners at the Portland Road site; both are a testament to the power of hope and collective action. They collaborate across the community, recognizing that no one can do it all: Moving forward is a shared responsibility that is too essential to ignore.
Curandi is connecting information infrastructure.
It enables data-driven whole-person care so that the more we work together, the more we succeed. Every small success leading to realistic possibilities does its part to grow hope.
Success is the currency of hope.
¹ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy