Category: Newsletter

Plato once said, “Music give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Hopewell’s Musical Journey Group allows the residents to venture down this creative path, connect with their own rhythm and find harmony within.

At the August 9, 2017, meeting of Hopewell’s Board of Directors, Stephen S. “Steve” Morse, Esq., was unanimously voted in as Hopewell’s new Chief Executive Officer. Steve follows the impressive tenure of Richard R. ‘Rick” Karges, LISW-S, ACSW, Hopewell’s leader since 2007.

On April 10th three years ago, Phillip S. was admitted to Hopewell. What began with a series of near-devastating challenges has become a positive, productive path of healing for this talented 30-year-old.

When Christine Montross, MD, spoke at Hopewell’s 2015 Exploring Mental Health Series, she said, “We all live beneath a veil of vulnerability. Mental illness pierces that veil.” It may strike at any age. Few people know that to be true more than 50-year-old Craig R.

Craig had practiced law in Arizona for more than 20 years when he became a full-time judge. . .

In January, 2015, at age 20, Zoe L. was admitted to Hopewell with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. After a time of emotional upheaval in her life, Hopewell became her catalyst for healing.

“Hopewell is a life-changing experience,” says Zoe. . .

Caring, gentle-spirited and kind, 28-year-old Alex S. exudes an infectious sense of warmth and optimism. This didn’t always come easily to him, however. Alex has struggled with symptoms of mental illness for much of his life.

“I couldn’t function,” he says…

Following a hospitalization, 57-year-old Cynthia L. came to Hopewell in October 2015 at the recommendation of her family. The following are Cynthia’s words, as told to her clinician, Laura Scarnecchia, LPC. An inspiration to everyone at Hopewell, Cynthia has agreed to share her story as guest speaker at this year’s Summer Solstice event.

On May 22, 2014, Hopewell resident Mike Erro finally received the medals he had earned 40 years earlier for his service as a U.S. Army Light Weapons Infantryman in Vietnam. The entire Hopewell community watched with pride as Sgt. Ryan Thomas pinned six medals, including the Purple Heart, onto Mike’s jacket.

It was an emotional and memorable day for Mike, made possible by Hopewell staff who had worked with him since his admission in February 1997. The day also marked a turning point for the quiet man who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and, since his return from the Vietnam War in 1969, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Joined by family members long estranged, and overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection from his peers and the staff of Hopewell, Mike began to open up. That day he said, “It seems like I haven’t realized before how much people in my life like me.”

“I came to Hopewell thinking that I am defined by my mental illness. By being here, I became aware that I am so much more than that,” says Dana, age 24.

Dana arrived at Hopewell in late August 2015 after a two-week hospitalization. “I felt like I could finally breathe again. It was like a breath of fresh air, literally.”

In 2013, Dana graduated from Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She had a particular passion for fabrics and textiles, and did a great deal of fabric dying and screen printing.

Left at an orphanage in Korea at six months of age, beautiful, healthy little Mariko was adopted a year later by a loving couple who brought her home to Northeast Ohio. Throughout her school years, she excelled at everything. She studied in France during high school and became fluent in four languages. In 2007, she graduated with honors from American University in Washington, DC, with a degree in International Studies and an eye on law school. Mariko’s future was bright.