The following is taken directly from the original application…

• Project HOPE, as mentioned previously is unique and innovative.  It started as an idea that two parents of children with special needs had and expanded to what it is today.  Over the last nine years there have been good times (service and contribution) and times of trial (the never-ending search for funding).  The one thread that has consistently been woven throughout the fabric, which is Project HOPE, has been community involvement and caring.  If this type of project were to be repeated elsewhere it must have a “buy-in” from all members of the community.  Without the families of all of the children in the schools the project does not work.  Without a committed and caring school division willing to look at innovative ways of meeting the needs of these children, it does not work.  Without the business and service groups willing to step up with a “can-do” attitude that always includes the phrase, “what can we do?”, it does not work.  Without the army of volunteers willing to give time and energy to a greater good, it does not work.  The Project is a true community partnership that is held
  together by the summation of its parts.  Without each and every one of these parts, the whole does not survive.
  
  
• The demographics of Project HOPE change as children move in and out of the program.  I will try to provide a list of all pertinent information as it presently sits.
  
  
• 1 Project Coordinator
• 1 Community Liaison Worker
• 2 Music Therapists
• 1 Recreational Therapist
• 10 Board Members
• 9 Administrators
• 80 children (and parents/ guardians) served directly, over 1000 indirectly
• Volunteers (numerous)
• Approx. 30 teachers (advisors working with the therapists and children as part of their regular classroom duties)
• Approx. 20 businesses
• Approx. 6-8 service clubs
• The schools being served by the Project have benefited a great deal.  New and innovative approaches to teaching and learning can never be undervalued and teachers, administrators and teaching assistants have all been the beneficiaries of this. 
• The value for parents of children in the program cannot be overstated but the value for parents of children not in the program should be addressed as well.  Everyday, as families interact in our community-based schools parents of children not in the program interact with those children and parents involved in it.  The underlying message of tolerance and difference is priceless as people are able to see the wonderful “abilities” of these children and gain a new appreciation for their worth and value.  Many parents have commented about the value for all children.  Besides the actual learning the children with special needs receive from Project HOPE, other children in the school gain peer-assistance opportunities which provide them with important lessons in social skills and community contribution.