Ronna Jevne

People who live from a place of hope are more likely to live in harmony , even during times of adversity . But what do we really know about hope ?

As the three of us stood on the steps of Hope House , a two-storey old home in Garneau on the University of Alberta campus , I turned to my fellow founding members of the Hope Foundation of Alberta and asked , “ What if they don ’ t come ?” Simultaneously , they replied , “ They will come .” And come they did — teachers , nurses , social workers , administrators , and patients with various conditions ( pain , Parkinson ’ s disease , brain injury , cancer ). They came to the only centre in the world that researches applied hope . That was in 1992 .

Thirty years later , this joint university – community centre , now known as Hope Studies Central , has just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary . Over the years , the centre has researched the nature and benefits of hope , developed a model of hope-focused counselling practice , and created a pedagogy of hope for schools and advanced education audiences . Here are a few of our historical highlights .

The SHARP Project

The good news is that hope can be learned . And where better to learn than in school ? Over the past few years , Dr . Denise Larsen and Dr . Rebecca Hudson Breen have been piloting SHARP ( Strengths , Hope and Resourcefulness Program for School Mental Health ) with teachers and K – 12 students in Edmonton schools . The purpose is to help teachers help students learn to be hopeful . Teachers ask students to think , talk , and write about hope in every subject . In a weather lesson , for example , Grade 6 students think about how they would cope in a natural disaster : where would they find hope ?

Findings highlight that while students were observed to benefit from focusing on hope , teachers

also benefit from involvement in hope research . Many of the resources created can be viewed on the SHARP-SMH website ( sharp . wp . educ . ualberta . ca ).

The Teacher Hope Group

With Wendy Edey at the helm , teachers on longterm disability worked together for several years to design and apply hope strategies . Not only did the participants benefit , but their work helped the Hope Foundation secure funding for numerous group programs . The strategies refined in the teacher group were later used in training programs for social workers and other professionals . In addition , they were used to facilitate hope for groups of people with chronic pain , chronic illness , and progressive conditions like Parkinson ’ s disease and Alzheimer ’ s disease .

Hope Kids

A trademarked program from 2008 – 2018 , Hope Kids began as a volunteer program for youth to inspire hope in the lives of residents living in continuing care centres . The tagline associated with the program was “ linking generations through hope companionship .” Before long , groups of seven to ten Hope Kids , along with trained coordinators , spent an hour a week after school with groups of residents in care .

By 2008 , teachers in classrooms became interested in finding ways to integrate what was happening in the Hope Kids program into the curriculum . This was the beginning of the

Hope-Focused Service-Learning program . When the service delivery dimension of The Hope Foundation closed , Dr . Lenora LeMay continued her work with professional learning communities ( bit . ly / 3Yg9UiW ).

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