House of Hope really started with a man who prayed over an often overlooked neighborhood behind his church. He wanted to move in, wanted to connect families to the church, and the church to families. In the midst of these prayers, a group of women had it put on their hearts to buy him a house in the neighborhood. Free of charge, not a penny in return, and no strings attached. The man, Michael, moved in and started forming relationships, started gathering stories, connecting people, teaching, and praying. For 5 years he called this neighborhood home. Then the time came for his next season of life. He began to pray again over the neighborhood and the home he was gifted, that at this point, held so many stories within its walls. He prayed for someone to continue the work that was started there. 

At this same time, I began having what started as nudges, then became dreams that kept me up at night. I began being pulled towards this same neighborhood in ways I couldn’t explain, but I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I began to dream of what it could look like to move into this mobile home park with the sole purpose of intentionally loving your neighbors. I had a friend, Alyssa, to do it with me. But we were teenagers and between the two of us, did not have the funds to purchase any kind of home. The prayer was “God, if you want us here, you will have to make a way.” Everyone I spoke with pointed me in Michael’s direction, so eventually, a conversation with Michael happened and a friendship was born….. a friendship that started with Michael offering us his house. No strings attached. No expectations. Not a penny in return. Just the way he received it 5 years earlier. 

In the summer of 2016, Alyssa and I moved in without any plans to start a structured program or nonprofit. We picked up the best we could where Michael left off, with relationships and community, that has always been our goal. What we found as time went by, was that so many of the needs of our neighbors could be met with a connection to someone else in the community, or simply a safe place to be heard. We learned the importance of consistency and being intentional with our time, and with that, a weekly youth night was born. Clothes were needed, so a clothing drive was held. Diapers were collected, leaves were raked, Christmas gifts donated, a summer camp fund formed. 

It was in 2018, we began having conversations about the future. We saw that what we were doing in the way of creating community could be replicated into other often overlooked neighborhoods in our area. We realized turning what we were doing into an official nonprofit would allow us to open more doors in ways of funding and connections for our neighbors. We knew creating an official structure would signal to our neighbors that we wanted to be around for the long run. So it was in 2018 that we received our nonprofit status and created our model of “people plants”. We felt the number one reason we were effective in creating community was because we were living in the community ourselves, and decided every neighborhood we serve would have a team member living in it full time. That summer, Alyssa moved out of the neighborhood in Lake Orion and moved into a mobile home park in Oxford, where we began to form a new House of Hope community. 

We have since been blessed enough to continue creating community in additional neighborhoods. In 2023, we moved into our Clarkston neighborhood. In 2024 we moved into our Sterling Heights neighborhood. Both of which are now thriving.

Today we have three active locations with weekly youth gatherings, summer camp experiences, mentoring, community events, and meaningful relationships. We are so thankful for everyone who plays a part in making our mission to love our neighbors possible!

-Brooke