What is Hope Revisited?
Hope Revisited was established in February of 2021 with a goal of reintegrating families that have been separated due to various life circumstances, into healthy sustainable family units and creating strong family bonds that will last for generations to come.
Hope Revisited is using a model that creates, promotes and sustains long term change for families in our community. The model raises families that are strong and can withstand tribulations and life circumstances that are thrown their way. These positive changes will affect families for generations to come and make our community a better place to raise families that stay together and support each other even in the toughest of times.
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a safe and stable environment where families-disconnected due to life circumstances learn to thrive and achieve sustainable unifications for generations to come.
Our Vision
Our vision is to be a catalyst for positive change in our community and the families we serve.
Our Why
For many years, in Coweta County, as in many areas of the state there has not been a safe and stable place for families whose children are in foster care (or other domestic situations) to have a family visitation other than a park when the weather is cooperative or a fast-food restaurant. Visitations can occur at these establishments; however, it is almost impossible to mend broken bonds, begin reconnecting and establish healthy relationships sitting in a Burger King Play area. Visiting at these locations can be stressful for all involved. The parents often are anxious because they must come up with funds to eat at the restaurant or purchase food to take to the park, the children don’t want to sit at a table and talk while there is a playground to play on and this is not what real life is like. When the parents are reunited with their children the visits that have occurred at Burger King have not prepared them for real life scenarios and situations. The visitations are equally as hard on the children. The only quality time that the children were spending with their parents is in a public place with so many distractions and they feel like their every move is being watched. Families don’t experience the formalities of cooking a meal, doing laundry, nap-time, homework time, playing games, reading a book or many other family time activities.
Our Approach
We achieve our mission using a three-prong approach. Early intervention followed by education sealed with a strong support system.
- Currently when children come into foster care there can be a long gap before they are able to begin visiting with their parents. Often it can be several weeks before a family has their first visit. We work to eliminate that barrier. We offer our safe visitation center for family use as soon as visits are ordered, eliminating the need to find a place to have the visits. Lessening the time that the families are not in contact helps preserve relationships and bonds. Hope Revisited is set up like a home with Bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, common living areas etc. This allows the visits to be as normal and intimate as possible, while still allowing the visits to be monitored if that is required.
- With Hope Revisited being set up like a home, it allows for the second prong of our program to take place most naturally. The education phase. This is where we provide skills necessary for the families to grow and learn to function as a unit. This part of the program takes place in several ways. During visits we offer resources such as parent aides, planned family activities, bonding activities, and relationship building and strengthening skills. We will also offer professionally taught classes for the parents separate from their visits with basic life skills like budgeting, resume writing, cooking, parenting, couponing and more. We work closely with DFCS to provide customized classes based on the needs of the families we work with.
- The third prong to our approach is putting a support system in place for families. As families go through their case plans as prescribed, we create mentor relationships and peer support relationships that are designed to continue after the parents complete their requirements and families are reunited. The parents will be able to work through challenges and tough situations with peers who are going through the same thing as well as those that have successfully completed reunification and have many years of success with their reunification. This design is in place so that families have an outlet when they feel stress and they know that they have their own support system to cheer them on and to rely on for advice and knowledge from their previous experiences.