See Beautiful Grant Applicant: Hello Hope

The feature below is brought to you by Hello Hope, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about our giving initiatives, please click here.
 
To learn more about the featured organization, please visit their website here.

Creating community through adversity

The journey for helloHOPE began nine years ago. Just after our oldest daughter celebrated her first birthday, she began exhibiting alarming symptoms and started to lose weight. In our search for answers, the next several months held visits to specialists, numerous medical procedures, and lots of fear surrounding what our daughter’s future held. 

During this season, we were immersed in the world of medical adversity. We discovered that it can take months to get an appointment with a specialist. Every waiting room we sat in was full of parents wearing brave faces as they waited for answers for their sons or daughters. Isolation and fear came easily. And an overwhelming amount of clinical words and information pointed more toward what was “wrong” with children than what was to be celebrated in them. 

In the winter of 2012, our daughter was diagnosed with EoE, a chronic GI disease that occurs when white blood cells attack the lining of the esophagus. In his wisdom, our doctor advised us not to search online for the diagnosis, but we were anxious to learn everything we could about what life was going to be like with this disease. Every website or story that we found pointed to either worst-case scenario stories or, at best, perpetuated the fear and questions in our hearts. 

We finally stepped away from the computer, looked at our daughter, and with the help of our community and prayer, we decided that it was time to turn off the stream of negative information. We carefully followed all of her doctor’s instructions, but our focus shifted. Rather than obsessing over all that was wrong, we started paying attention to the things that made our daughter’s face light up. The things that made her come alive. Exploring outside or running through the grass with her infectious giggle. 
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As we watched her grow and gradually come to a place of healing, we knew that we wanted to steward the story we had been given. A little bit of research uncovered that 1 in 5 children in America faces special health care needs. That explained the full waiting rooms. And the place those parents are turning to for more information? The Internet.

We began dreaming together about creating an online community built on hope for families walking through a diagnosis with their child. Families could share how they navigated through their journey with hope and faith. We could share resources that provided truth and encouragement to parents who are feeling overwhelmed or alone. 

In July of 2015, helloHOPE was born with a mission of providing hope-filled stories and resources to families facing medical adversity. It has been a privilege to share 27 real, honest, stories of families who have walked through a childhood diagnosis with hope.

These stories reflect a diverse array of childhood diagnoses from allergies and dermatology to oncology, neurology, and even stories of hope through loss. Every story is unique, yet each one has a thread of hope running through even the darkest and most difficult moments. And every story of hope that is shared leads the way for more families to discover that hope is possible for their family, too. 

In addition to the stories, more than 100 resource articles have been published, providing parents with much-needed support and encouragement. These resources include encouragement for the heart, prayers, and expert interviews. 
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It has been beautiful to see our community grow over the last five years. In 2020 alone, more than 72,000 people visited our website and found that there is a community of families who are holding on to these core tenets: a diagnosis isn’t everything, you are not alone, and your story matters. It is a gift to be able to come alongside parents and celebrate their uniquely beautiful children and the transforming power of hope.

Submitted by Mary Beth Thomas

Co-founder, HelloHope