Where Hope Is Growing
Making Room for More
Hope WINS is growing, and we’re finding new ways to meet kids and families where they are. From additional academic support for some of our youngest learners to creating spaces where middle schoolers actually want to show up, we’re continuing to listen to what our community needs and asking ourselves what we can build next.
And this season, we’re quite literally making room for more.
Hope WINS recently purchased a building of our own, giving us new possibilities for what connection, support, learning, and community can look like in the future. We’re still dreaming, planning, and figuring out exactly what this new space can become, but having a place to grow opens doors we haven’t had before. At the same time, two new opportunities for kids are already taking shape: MAC Lab and Hope After Hours!
MAC Lab: Mentoring, Activities & Connection is a small-group after-school enrichment and academic support opportunity currently being developed for Freeport School District students in kindergarten through second grade.
MAC Lab is designed for children who may be beginning to fall behind academically, struggling with foundational skills or classroom engagement, or experiencing social-emotional or functional challenges that interfere with learning. Academics, particularly reading and math, will be at its core, while still providing the relationship-based and social-emotional support that is such an important part of how Hope WINS works with kids.
We’re still fine-tuning the details, but MAC Lab is coming very soon.
We’re also making room for kids at another important stage.
Over the last several months, the Hope WINS Collaborative has been brainstorming ways to better connect with middle school youth, and from those conversations came Hope After Hours, a fun, relaxed event created specifically for kids in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The idea was simple: create a safe, welcoming place where middle schoolers can hang out, connect with friends and trusted adults, and enjoy activities they actually want to show up for. In partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, Hope After Hours has now come to life with music, food, basketball, games, prizes, and plenty of space to just have fun and be a kid.
Our first casino-themed night included basketball, games, pizza, mocktails, music, and plenty of time to simply have fun together. More Hope After Hours events are planned throughout the school year, with new themes and activities along the way.
For some of our kids, these middle-school years also mark a transition from being a MAC camper into opportunities like becoming a Junior Hope Coach. Hope After Hours gives us another way to maintain those connections while also welcoming new kids into the Hope WINS village.
A new building. A new opportunity for our youngest learners. A new space for middle schoolers. They’re different pieces, but they’re all rooted in the same question that has guided Hope WINS from the beginning:
What do you need to succeed?
We’re listening to the answers.
And we’re making room for more.