Category: News

The Hopewell Community is proud to announce that staff member, Candace Carlton LISW-S, was the honored recipient of The Bitonte College of Health and Human Services 2014 Youngstown State Social Work Alumni of the Year award.

Candace worked at Hopewell as a direct care facilitator during her college years. She was a member of the first graduating class at Youngstown State to receive a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Candace has supervised students involved in the Social Work program at YSU as they completed their internship experience here at our Hopewell facility.

Candace is currently the Quality Improvement & Compliance Director at Hopewell. Candace enjoys her daily interaction with our residents. She is a member of our Leadership & Clinical Team, a Clinical Case Manager, group facilitator and is always available to meet with residents and their families.

Candace and our Executive Director, Rick Karges, LISW-S are pictured with her award.

Congratulations Candace,we are all very proud of you!

To add color to Hopewell’s serene setting during these frigid months of winter, the Hopewell community gathered together to create these magical colored globes.

These creations were made by coloring water with everyday food coloring. Then, the fun began by filling the balloons with our colorful mixtures to make water balloons. The water balloons were placed outside in the below zero temperatures until frozen. When the balloons were removed, the globes glistened in the winter sunshine.

As you walk through Hopewell’s front door you are immediately greeted by the newest member of our community, an illuminated pink pig presented to Hopewell by an anonymous donor.

Everyone loved the adorable piglet, but sadly it was nameless. The residents decided that the adorable pig must have a name. A “Name Our Pig” contest began for the entire Hopewell community. The winner, Brendan, is sitting here with Mrs. McWiggles.

This month she is dressed in an original Valentine’s Day dress made by staff member, Laura Shetler. The hand-crafted sign welcoming visitors was created by our wonderful receptionist, Anne Andrews.

Stylish Mrs. McWiggles plans to have a creative hand-crafted designer outfit for each holiday. St. Patrick’s Day will be here before you know it!

Colleen Welder, RN C Director of Program Services writes: Hopewell recently hosted a group of 8 students from the University of Illinois. The students arrived on Sunday January 12th for their alternative winter break experience volunteering on the farm.

During the week they were here, the students worked on maintenance projects under the direction of the Hopewell Facility Director, Rick Polch. Their main project was painting the entry way and hallways in two of our cottages. The students did a great job with this and had a rewarding and positive experience at the same time. Their week of service ended with a nature walk along our trails led by Program Service Supervisor, Jack Childers. Hopewell plans to host a second group of alternative spring breakers in March of this year.

It was a brisk and blustery Monday morning here at Hopewell. Near whiteout conditions made the trek in slow and tedious but we were rewarded with an opportunity to witness a rare meteorological phenomenon upon our arrival. The fields and hills of Hopewell were inundated with “Snow Rollers”, easily hundreds of them, perhaps thousands.

According to Wikipedia and About.com, snow rollers, also known as snow bales or snow donuts, are a naturally occurring but extremely rare event requiring a unique set of circumstance in order to form the hollow cylinders of snow. First, the ground must be covered by a layer of ice to which snow will not stick. Then this layer of ice must be covered by wetter, loose snow with a temperature near the melting point of ice. Strong winds are needed to pull out chunks of the snow and ice and move them along the snow and the wind must be strong enough to move the snow rollers, but not strong enough to blow them apart. As the snow moves, layers of snow are built up on the outside. Since the top layer of snow is light, the snow in the middle of the roll can get blown out making the shape more tubular and hollow in the middle.

The results are spectacular. The landscape at Hopewell never ceases to amaze us.

Write up and picture by Daniel Horne

Here are just a few of the wood piles that our community has produced around the Hopewell property. The trees used have either fallen down, or already died. Nevertheless, they are still standing and therefore must be taken down for safety reasons.

Our Farm Manager, Norman Wengerd uses the chainsaw to cut the logs into usable sections while other Hopewell community members use a hydraulic splitter hooked up to a tractor. The process of lifting the pieces onto the splitter and stacking the wood is very healthy and therapeutic.

The wood is transported by our horse drawn wagon to the Sugar House. A fire is constantly maintained in the evaporator which processes the maple sap into our delicious syrup. It is a winter spectacle not to be missed! When the sap is boiling, the woods, campus and air have a warm maple sugar fragrance.

It won’t be long now until we begin the process of making our delicious syrup! Stay tuned…

Hopewell’s Transportation Department is the best group of caring & devoted individuals any agency could ask for. Many do not realize they only operate with three people. This dedicated team is led by Transportation Coordinator Beth Orr.

Before her arrival in 2008 she spent many years driving bus for Trumbull County Schools. During Beth’s workday she creates a resident event calendar, maintains our vehicles, schedules doctor’s appointments, shopping trips, college courses, and airport arrivals & departures.

Believe it or not, our Hopewell vehicles traveled over 52,000 miles in 2013! Our newest addition to our Transportation Department is a 2014 Jeep Cherokee shown here with Beth, Tom Vitale & Richard Pipek.

Retired, Tom felt a need to continue helping others. He joined Hopewell three years ago & his personal preference is driving our veterans to their VA appointments.

Richard is a two time volunteer who was here from 2006-2008, after which he traveled around the US & overseas. He came back in March of 2013 and plans on staying through 2015.

Hats off to Beth, Tom and Richard! YOU ARE THE BEST!

The recent winter blast brought sub zero temperatures to the farm. Our community banded together to make sure that everyone was protected from the bitter freeze that descended upon us. Extra precautions were taken to transport residents back and forth from their cottages to the Inn for meals and their favorite groups. Everyone bundled up with proper winter attire and enjoyed a variety of homemade soups, along with hot tea & cocoa provided by our wonderful kitchen crew.

As we begin to thaw out and wait for the next round of winter to come our way, we know that we will take care of each other and are always warm at heart!

On Tuesday December 10th, Hopewell’s Executive Director Rick Karges LISW-S, and Quality Improvement/Compliance Director, Candace Carlton LISW-S had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dr. Sana Loue on Case Western Reserve’s radio show “Straight Up with DocSana” on WRUW 101.1. The discussion not only touched upon important mental health issues, but gave an overview of what Hopewell has to offer those individuals suffering from a mental illness.

The holidays are upon us once again. Like each and every year, our staff and residents bundled up last Friday and took a journey to Manner’s Tree Farm. We picked out and cut down a gorgeous tree to adorn our spacious dining room. Today, we spent time decorating the tree. Activities included stringing popcorn and placing the ornaments and lights in just the perfect spot. Our Hopewell community listened to Christmas carols and enjoyed freshly baked cookies complimented by our own delicious hot and cold cider. Fun was had by all!