Project Hope was founded in 1981 by the Little Sisters of the Assumption, who had first moved to the Dudley Neighborhood of North Dorchester/Roxbury more than 50 years earlier.  The Sisters settled in this area in order to live and work with families. Project Hope has evolved over the years, but its core mission and approach remain the same.

Hope Heals 1947-1960
Initially, "joining with families" meant providing home health and social work services in neighborhood residents' homes and assisting families who were experiencing crisis: a parent's illness, a difficult pregnancy, a dying child, or an accident.

The families of the neighborhood in those early years were of Western European origin or descent, Catholic and Jewish mostly, people who worked as laborers earning a family wage, people who believed in the "American Dream."

Cardinal Richard Cushing, who initially brought the Little Sisters of the Assumption to Magnolia Street, and found them the house at the corner of Robinhood Street later helped the Sisters to build a new wing where neighbors could develop vital community supports.
 

Hope Welcomes 1961-1974
Cardinal Cushing invited the Little Sisters of the Assumption to live in Dorchester because they were devoted to working with the poor.  They were also an international congregation of women, able to speak different languages and be responsive to different cultures.  He was a prescient man.

The neighborhood changed as white working class residents moved to the suburbs and new residents moved in from the Southern states, from Latin American countries, Haiti, Caribbean countries and Cape Verde.

The Little Sisters of the Assumption listened to the new families to see how to be most responsive to what they needed while continuing to provide health care services to people in their homes.

Their new neighbors for the most part had few resources and were moving into housing that was badly deteriorating.  Jobs were scarce.  What they needed were advocates and translators to assist them in understanding the systems facing them in America involving housing, health, education.

So, using their several languages, the sisters welcomed their new neighbors, helping them develop food programs, children's programs, and neighborhood-wide events that brought families together.
 

Hope Happens 1975-1983
One of the definitions of the word "happens" is "takes place." That is exactly what transpired during the years 1975-1983: Hope took its place on Magnolia Street.

Not that things looked hopeful - the neighborhood looked like a war zone.  Homes burned down one after another.  Fingers pointed at landlords out to cash in on insurance money.  The sounds of fire engines and police sirens shrieked through the nights, and the dawns only brought harsh light to the vacant lots piled with rubbish.

The sisters living in the convent at 45 Magnolia Street looked at vacant spaces all around them and questioned, should we stay?  Homelessness was a growing problem: people were living under horrendous conditions.  Women and their children were sleeping in hospital waiting rooms, cars, or vacant, rodent-infested buildings.

The sisters at 45 Magnolia Street came up with this answer to the growing problems facing their neighborhood: "Let's open up our own convent and invite homeless families to live with us."  The sisters continued to work in the community every day and at night returned home to what had become one of the first neighborhood-based family shelters in the state of Massachusetts.

In 1983, in his inaugural address, then Governor Michael Dukakis addressed homelessness as a primary concern of his administration.  Since 45 Magnolia Street - now named Project Hope, originally an acronym for House Open People Enter - was already up and running, it became a model that helped shape the family shelter system for the Commonwealth into a system sensitive to families.
 

Hope Builds 1984-1996
Not content with palliating homelessness, instead, the Little Sisters of the Assumption sought to work with families to effect profound changes in the causes of homelessness.

They built strong collaborative city and state-wide advocacy networks, and developed in house education programs at Project Hope.  Families in the shelter and residents in the neighborhood needed child care, so a child care program was established and licensed by the Commonwealth.

Project Hope put its energies into building affordable housing just about the same time the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative began building its dreams for the neighborhood.  Project Hope's first such project was providing homes for three families by taking ownership of a building which had been rehabilitated by the "Cardinal's Rehab."  The second project was the Magnolia Street Cooperative Housing, an 8 unit cooperative.

At Project Hope any programs we create have the active involvement of the participants in the creation.  It is important that victims of poverty and oppression and homelessness not internalize their situation in such a way as to blame themselves, rather they need to understand the causes and forces behind the situation and to act with us as advocates for change at the level of cause.
 

Hope Continues
All of Project Hope's programs and initiatives focus on strengthening the family and building economic empowerment and independence.  The future asks: How do we build businesses that stay in the community? How do we strengthen existing supports, and provide the education and training needed to access jobs that earn a living wage?

Funded by HUD and in collaboration with others, Project Hope initiated the Transition to Work Collaborative, to assist homeless families in 8 Boston shelters in economic literacy training, access to education and training, and job placement with follow-up supportive services.

Project Hope is also a member of the One Family Campaign funded by the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, to end family homelessness one family at a time.  Under this initiative Project Hope serves as a site for the One Family Scholars program.  This program provides higher education and leadership development training to homeless, formerly homeless, and low-income women who have been identified as "women of promise."

As the needs of our families changed, we outgrew our space.  In August 2006, Project Hope moved to a new Community Building just around the corner on Dudley Street.  This new building will give us an increased presence in our community and brings all of our educational and workforce development activities under one roof.  As a result, we will be able to serve more families.

Hope continues and will continue.