Season of Hope Invitation
Will you join us for a Season of Hope? Between now and the end of the year, we will be sharing weekly content that explores the many facets of hope.
This isn’t meant to be prescriptive. There are multiple entry points into this invitation: Moments of inspiration and response on social media. Minutes or more, with a weekly blog post, where you sit quietly and ponder one of the prompts. A month of hope in action. Make this season of hope the reflection that you need.
You can find Season of Hope, Week 1 here.
Week 2: Season of Hope
What Is Hope? Snyder’s Theory and the Work of Roof Above
This year at Roof Above, our theme has been hope, and we have spent a lot of time thinking about what exactly that means. We believe hope is active — it is not simply the belief that everything will be OK, but that the possibility exists that, with action, we can create a better outcome.
Our neighbors experiencing homelessness know hope in its most visceral, unvarnished sense. To find a place to sleep each night (or day), to show up and take the next step toward housing, shelter, or medical care — these things are hard and require the belief that those actions could lead to a better future.
The psychologist Richard Snyder put that idea into a formal theory, expressed as an equation:
GOAL + PATHWAY + AGENCY = HOPE
Here is how we see this theory at work at Roof Above:
Goal: Every path forward begins with a goal — to get somewhere, you have to know where you are going. We start by listening to our neighbors to learn what their goals are, even as those goals evolve. For someone experiencing homelessness, one day housing may be their priority — but the next day that longer-term goal could take a back seat to the immediate need for food or medical care.
Pathway: Once a goal is identified, how can it be achieved? What are the next steps? Each day , Roof Above staff provide pathways through the housing process, and to sustaining services like food, showers, shelter, and health care. Our QT Street Outreach team, housing navigators, Resource Center team, and even the volunteers at our front desks help create and share pathways forward.
Agency: Dr. Snyder defined agency as “our ability to believe we have the power and capacity to act toward our goals.” Our neighbors exercise agency when they come to Roof Above seeking help, and part of our work is helping them sustain this belief as they take each next step.
Ms. Edwards’ Story
Ms. Edwards’ story demonstrates hope in action at Roof Above. She was experiencing homelessness after leaving an abusive marriage and trying to find her way out of shelters and back into housing. Her faith and her sense of agency led her to attend multiple churches and make as many connections as she could in the hope of finding a pathway to housing. One woman she met told her about Sara Varnado, a member of Roof Above’s QT Street Outreach team, and Sara provided that pathway.
This fall, Roof Above began operating Forest Point Place (FPP), a Mecklenburg County-owned hotel conversion for adults aged 55+ coming out of homelessness. Sara helped Ms. Edwards complete the coordinated entry process, get matched for housing at FPP, and move in. Ms. Edwards now has on-site case management and nursing care, and her health and her outlook have improved.
“At first when I met Sara, I thought I would never see her again. But she did exactly what she said she was going to do, every time. This place is the biggest blessing to me.”
Questions to Ponder
- Do you believe your actions can lead to a better outcome?
- What change would you like to work to bring about?
Invitation to Act in Hope
We invite you to act as an ambassador in support of Roof Above’s mission to unite the community to end homelessness in Charlotte, one life at a time.
Here are a couple of simple things you can do to help spread the word:
- Follow Roof Above on social media and share our posts with your circle of influence. You will see plenty of opportunities to help!
- Join our community to stay up-to-date with what’s happening at Roof Above. Share your email preferences by choosing which communications you’d like to receive. You may choose all three!
- The “2×4” is an education and advocacy email with four bullet points about issues affecting homelessness locally and nationally that goes out twice a month. The “2×4” aims to be informal, in-the-moment, and impactful. And we want it to be a conversation.
- “Heartbeats & Highlights: Real Stories. Real Impact.” is Roof Above’s monthly newsletter. Each month we dive into a different topic, through data and stories, to keep you connected and in the know with what’s happening at Roof Above.
- Roof Above Communications will include periodic organization announcements, news, and letters from our leaders, like CEO Liz Clasen-Kelly.