FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Center of Hope Foundation, Inc.
100 Foster Street, PO Box 66, Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-4085
www.thecenterofhope.org
Kayla Krause, Director of Marketing & Sales
KKrause@thecenterofhope.org
(508) 764-4085 ext. 698
Center of Hope Foundation announces the kickoff of the Hope Grows Here Capital Campaign
Southbridge, MA. (5/23/23) – The Center of Hope Foundation, Inc. announced the kickoff of a $2.6 million Capital Campaign called Hope Grows Here. Thanks to commitments from generous early donors, nearly a quarter of the goal has already been committed. The Hope Grows Here Campaign is designed to expand and modernize CoHF facilities for individuals with disabilities, create new opportunities for work and housing, enhance lives, and strengthen the organization’s overall impact.
“The Center of Hope Foundation has been a crucial part of our community in South Central Mass and Northern Connecticut for 66 years, serving several hundred people with intellectual and developmental disabilities daily,” said CoHF CEO, Cindy Howard. “Our programs are places where lifelong friendships are formed, and memories are made. We provide a safe and welcoming place for our program members where they feel valued, important, and treated equally. We give the individuals we serve and their families the HOPE that they deserve! Now we are undertaking a major fundraising initiative designed to improve facilities and programs to better serve the entire community.”
Key objectives of the campaign are to make improvements to existing and new Center of Hope facilities, such as the Day Hab Program Center at Foster St. in Southbridge; to enhance opportunities for meaningful work through enterprises like the brand-new Scoops of Hope Ice Cream Parlor; and to expand supported housing options. The Campaign also seeks to increase community engagement and raise awareness in order to create a more inclusive environment for the hundreds of individuals served by CoHF.
“We are very pleased to announce that we have recruited a stellar and dedicated campaign steering committee to aid us in this vital work, “said Ms. Howard. Members of the committee include; Casey Cormier, President, Angel Guard Products & US Tool and Fastener, Chris McClure, President, McClure Engineering, Nick Smith, President/CEO, Rand-Whitney, Randy Becker, Chairman of the Board of Directors at MAPFRE USA, Jay Detarando, Incom, Inc., Alan Peppel, President, Dexter Russell, Inc., Attorney Jeffrey Chasse, Chasse & Roche, P.C. Attorneys at Law, Jennifer Herrmann, Judy Laroche, Paulette Pratico, Julie-Ann Leo, James Graham, Kristine Biagiotti-Bridges, Cheryl Ryan Chan, Board Chair, Board of Directors, Sherie Bombardier, Jayne Bowler, Patricia Lawrie, Annette Lazili, Barbara Reynolds, Linda Cournoyer, Geraldo Maldonado, Cindy Howard, Erika Travinski, Chad Krause, Ryan Thompson, Kelly Hutton, Christina Hadis-Blackwell, and Kayla Krause.
The campaign is structured so that pledges can be made over a five-year period and there are opportunities available to honor and recognize a loved one or business through a specific named gift such as a program area or room, or even an entire CoHF facility. “We are grateful to our families and community leaders for their generosity and support,” said Erika Travinski, the Center of Hope’s COO. “We would like to recognize the following donors for stepping up at the outset to help us build momentum; The Herman Becker Family Foundation, Fels Family Foundation, Hyde/Dexter Charitable Foundation, the Affinity Group and the Kraft Family Foundation have all stepped up as advance and lead donors.”
In addition to seeking grants from foundations and corporations, the campaign is also employing a new peer-to-peer fund raising strategy where anyone can join the effort by creating a personal fund raising page, join a fund raising team or simply make a one-time or multi-year contribution. Led by Kayla Krause, CoHF’s director of marketing and Cheryl Chan, a CoHF board chair, this online effort will be active through the end of June 2023, and then restart in successive years throughout the campaign. Information on how to become involved can be found at www.thecenterofhope.org/campaign.
“I have been really awed by our volunteers and donors during this early, quiet phase of the campaign and I am really looking forward to getting more and more people involved through our peer-to-peer initiative,” said Ms. Krause.
For more information about the campaign and the projects it will enable, or if you wish to donate, please visit www.thecenterofhope.org/campaign.
About the Center of Hope Foundation
The Mission of the Center of Hope Foundation is to improve the lives of the members we serve by providing quality services and providing opportunities so that EVERYONE can be contributing members of their communities and achieve the most fulfilling lives possible. The vision of the Center of Hope Foundation, Inc. is to broaden the scope of care, resources, advocacy, and services to an ever-widening circle of individuals with disabilities and disabling circumstances from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, who desire to work, overcome barriers to opportunity, who need critical supports to prevail over disadvantages and who wish to achieve and preserve the prospect of a fulfilled life.
Currently, within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are approximately 5,000 individuals with disabilities who are not receiving services from agencies like CoHF. Covid has had a profound impact on many of these individuals and their families and without essential services from providers like CoHF, individuals with disabilities are forced to stay home. Funding from the Hope Grows Here Capital Campaign will allow us to increase and rejuvenate the spaces within our programs. In doing this we will create a more effective, pleasing and safer environment, increasing capacity, and giving hope and opportunity to those individuals on our waiting list. For the vulnerable population served by CoHF, it is more important than ever to enhance health, safety and security features which can provide important reassurance to families that their loved ones are always safe and treated with respect and care.
Contact:
Cindy Howard, CEO
Center of Hope Foundation, Inc.
Cindy@thecenterofhope.org
774-230-1926
