Hope House "Blessings" sing out at St. Francis in Denville

Members of  the  Hope House Blessings choral group , from Hope House  Dover, NJ , brought smiles and cheers to Senior residents at Saint Francis Residential Community and Franciscan Oaks Health Senior Living Center on Tuesday July 5, 2011

The highlight of the day was watching the faces of the attendees light up as we sang our “oldies and patriotic”  medleys. Members of the audience sang and swayed as Blessings vocalist,  Retta Suttles the volunteer leader of this chorale , connected with every piano key possible to bring music alive in the room. Some danced with their canes, while others came out of their quiet selves, as familiar melodies and lyrics resounded about them.  One dear woman stated,

“ You should leave your jobs and form a group, you’re GOOD!"

The only dim light of the day was that all the vocal group became stuck in the elevator with out air-conditioning performance for a short period right before their performance . However, their yellow paper plate sun props for their rendition of “You are My Sunshine” came in handy as emergency fans. Within minute the Hope House Blessings was performing and entertaining the gathering as if nothing happened.

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Summer 2011 Message from The Executive Director

While summer may be upon us we have not slowed down at Hope House. Our food pantry volume is up 14% from this time last year and the volume of food distributed is increased by 30% since last year.  We could not provide the high quality food pantry services at Hope House without the support of community partners and the generous donations from faith communities, groups and local food banks.  Thanks to our seven amazing food pantry volunteers, we continue to serve over 500 families a month who are in need of food security.  Our volunteer hours have also increased 45% since this time last year.

We know the BEST volunteers are at Hope House.  Among our exemplary volunteers, is the Toledo family from Randolph. Bishop Serratelli recently presented the Toledo family the Vivere Christus award for their compassion to others. 

Hope House strives to be a quality Human Services provide. We are also proud of our recent re-accreditation by the Council on Accreditation for 2011 through 2015.

At Hope House we believe we are of the community, for the community and that was most evident at our 40th Anniversary Dinner at which we recognized two terrific volunteers.  Tom Vazquez and Mark Andreano for their commitment to community service.  In June we participated in Discover Dover Day, with a presentation of our LEAP dance program participants, a creative after school program founded by Randolph High School senior Amanda Keller. 

Amanda was among the candidates for the NJ Governor’s award this year for her performing arts advocacy efforts on behalf of low-income immigrant children.

Advocacy and community building takes many forms at Hope House. Whether it is the Ray of Hope vegetable garden or the new meditation garden, Hope House brings like minded people together to serve others.  Our good friends the Knights of Columbus Council #6320 and the Notre Dame Senior Alumni Group continue to “make things happen” and help our clients.

On June 22^nd we hosted a program given by Legal Services on tenant and landlord rights to foster self advocacy and empowerment of local residents.

A Hope House delegation recently traveled to Washington DC to advocate for the unmet needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.  As you can see, Hope House is committed to serving our community and empowering those in need. 

If you would like to learn more, please feel free to join us for an Hour of Hope tour, you will be filled with Hope!

God Bless you always!

                                      ~Diane Silbernagel

                                        Executive Director

                                        Hope House