By Lee B. Roberts
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008 12:00 am
No matter which of its three doorways you enter, a visit to Downtown's new HOPES Center is meant to encourage healing, wholeness, peace, justice and spiritual well-being. The center, which occupies several spaces in the 500 block of Sixth and Seventh streets, is a multi-purpose facility where the public is invited to come and have their morning coffee and bakery; shop for globally-produced Fair Trade products; have access to counseling and mentoring services; learn about issues ranging from poverty to ecology; and explore their spirituality.
While that may sound like a lot to pack into the space that formerly housed the Racine Arts Council, the description doesn't really cover all that the HOPES Center aspires to be to its surrounding community. Created out of the vision of five Racine Dominicans, the center is designed to be "a vibrant hub where a diverse and inclusive community will collaborate to shape the future" - a future which values the dignity and worth of all people through a spirituality rooted in justice.
And each of the center's components - its Cup of Hope coffee shop, its Just Trade retail store and its other ministries - plays a role in reaching those goals.
"It isn't like these are separate entities," said Sister Ann Pratt, director of the HOPES Center. Each ministry is connected in some way to the mission of the HOPES Center, which is to build awareness of the causes and consequences of poverty and to employ collaborative, multi-dimensional approaches toward their alleviation, Pratt explained.
"The poor and the vulnerable, whether they are here or elsewhere in the world, all affect everybody's way of living," she said.
Centering itself
The HOPES Center's Downtown location was chosen to make its services accessible to people in the community who struggle to obtain services such as counseling, healing arts and education. Its Cup of Hope coffee shop and Just Trade store (both of which can be entered from Sixth Street) opened on Oct. 1. And, when the HOPES Center's main facility opens on Oct. 15, it will begin to offer a variety of programs focusing on the five areas represented in its name - H (healing), O (opportunity), P (peace and justice), E (ecology) and S (spirituality). The main entrance to the HOPES Center is on Seventh Street.
Group and individual counseling services will be available as soon as the center opens, Pratt said, and eventually organizers hope to offer a range of healing services ranging from Reiki (Japanese healing technique) treatments to art and music therapy. What is offered will depend somewhat on who steps forth to provide such services, Pratt explained.
With the exception of two paid managerial positions (one for the coffee shop and one for the store), most people working with the HOPES Center are volunteers - from the Racine Dominicans who have put in countless hours in rehabbing the space to community professionals who have offered their expertise for various services.
"By intent and design, this is a collaborative effort," said Pratt, whose position as director is tied to her role as an AmeriCorps VISTA (formerly Volunteers in Service to America) with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's Center for Community Partnerships. Pratt is one of five VISTAs working in various capacities with the CCP, whose mission is to connect the resources of the university with the resources of the communities of southeastern Wisconsin.
The relationship between the HOPES Center and the university's center allows Pratt to tap into the skills of students and faculty for help in carrying out HOPES' ministries, explained Tom Schnaubelt, dean for community engagement and civic learning with the Center for Community Partnerships. A UW-Parkside student, for example, designed the logo for the HOPES Center, and students may volunteer their time to work in one of the center's entrepreneurial ministries.
Their engagement with the HOPES Center also allows students opportunities to learn about things such as how businesses and non-profit organizations are run, as well as giving them insights into the growing segment of our economy known as Fair Trade, said Schnaubelt.
"It is a relationship that is good for the community and good for our faculty and students," he said.
Other collaborations between the HOPES Center and the wider community include students in Gateway Technical College's culinary arts program who provide food for the Cup of Hope, as well as various projects the center is working on, or is planning, with organizations such as the HALO shelter for the homeless and the Racine Interfaith Coalition.
"The collaborative opportunities are virtually endless," Pratt said.
Volunteers needed
Pratt and the rest of the HOPES Center team are very grateful for all of the assistance they have received so far in getting the center up and running. They are still in need of volunteers in a wide range of areas, she said, and anyone who is interested or would like more information should leave a message at (262) 633-0751.
"Any person who comes here brings something to us as much as we bring something to them," she said.
The community service focus of the HOPES Center is a natural fit for the Racine Dominicans, who have been serving this community since 1862, according to Pratt.
"When we first came here we did what was needed back then, which was teaching immigrant German children to speak English," she said.
Since then, the Racine Dominicans have served the community through a wide range of ministries, including the Bethany Apartments, which provide transitional housing for women and children who have suffered from domestic abuse; the Senior Companion Program; and the Eco-Justice Center.
The HOPES Center focuses on the needs of the community today - particularly those people suffering from economic, ecological and spiritual poverty, Pratt said. And its central location will allow those working on these issues to intersect with the people who need its services most, she said.
The HOPES Center is a providence of God, she said, that has come to be because people had faith that it would.
"There were many nights I went to bed thinking that I didn't know how this was all going to happen," Pratt said. "But, the next day people would show up to help make it happen.
"This project brought all these wonderful people together and has taken on a life of its own."
If You Go
WHAT: The HOPES Center, which includes the Cup of Hope coffee shop and the Just Trade retail store, as well as other ministries
WHERE: Entrance to the HOPES Center is at 506 Seventh St. The Cup of Hope coffee shop is at 507 Sixth St. and the Just Trade retail store is at 505 Sixth St.
WHEN: Current hours for the Cup of Hope are 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; and 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday). Hours for Just Trade are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday (subject to change). The HOPES Center is scheduled to open Wednesday with hours of 9 a.m-6 p.m. Monday through Friday
INFO: Call (262) 898-2940