Partner Spotlight: Hopefully Sow

Posted October 4, 2017

Partner Spotlight: Hopefully Sow

Hopefully Sow is a nonprofit organization that works to bring love, joy and aspiration to children in foster care. We partner with the organization on a variety of projects for our kiddos throughout the year.

SH: Tell us about Hopefully Sow.
HS: We believe kids in foster care deserve more. We strive for a world where these children receive love, joy and aspiration. It is our mission to sow these seeds through experiences, meeting tangible needs and providing opportunities beyond the system. Our mission is to sow seeds of love, joy and aspiration for children in foster care in the Austin area.

Hopefully Sow first began as a service ministry from a couples community group at Riverbend Church. As that effort grew, its members recognized the appeal of the work and decided to form a nonprofit. Hopefully Sow is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Donations may be tax-deductible depending upon the donor’s circumstances.

SH: How did you get connected to The Settlement Home?
HS: A few of board members are one-on-one mentors for girls residing at The Settlement Home

SH: Why is volunteering important to Hopefully Sow?
HS: Volunteering is important because we believe in relationships. We believe the teens we serve need positive relationships. We want to know the kids we serve: their favorite songs, what they like to eat, what their favorite color is and what their needs are. They want to know others outside the system and be known as well. Building relationships with the kids is the most important and valuable thing we do.

SH: Describe the projects Hopefully Sow has worked on with The Home.
HS: We host an honor roll party in which the girls are rewarded for being on the honor roll. The party is with Cynthia Sandall, a Settlement Club member and Hopefully Sow board member. She also leads our back to school clothes shopping event, where each girl has $100 to go shopping to pick out a couple outfits to start school in brand new clothes.

We also supply The Settlement Home with new hip and colorful bedding sets as a welcoming gift to new arrivals. We have done creative camps throughout the summer where they create beautiful art. Each month we host Residential Treatment Center (RTC) cottages to monthly dinners. We take resident members of the Run Club shoe shopping. We partner in hosting an awesome prom  (this year, the prom girls got to go the Fashion Designer Sherri Hill’s headquarters & pick out a new dress, have professional hair and makeup done and ride around in a limo). We recently started a new program helping the Transitional Living Program residents obtain their Driver’s License.

SH: What kind of impact does volunteering have on your members?
HS: All of our board members volunteer and individually lead these activities. This allows their passion to show when they are fundraising or speaking on behalf of the organization. They know and care for the children we serve. We learn so much from these kids, and share at board meetings about how they inspire us. We love sharing stories and memories that we have through the relationships that we’ve built.

SH: What kind of impact do you hope that your organization can make on our kids?
HS: We hope our impact shows each child that we work with that they are beautiful, smart, kind, worthy and loved. We hope we sow into them love, joy and aspiration. We know they are brilliant and they have a big bright future ahead of them. We hope we can help them see it for themselves.