Hope Meadows by Wes Smith

Hope Meadows: Real-Life Stories of Healing and Caring from an Inspiring Community by Wes Smith ISBN-13: 9780425178409 Hardcover: 210 pages Publisher: Berkley Released: April 28th 2001

Source: From my grandmother's personal library.

Book Description from Book Cover (modified):
With its tree-shaded streets, Hope Meadows looks like any suburban neighborhood where children of all colors ride bicycles, and where an equally diverse mix of adults sit sentry in lawn chairs. Not visible are the tormented histories haunting the children at play, or what brought them to this little village of big miracles and opportunity to finally understand the joys of a normal childhood.

Built on an abandoned Illinois Air Force base, Hope Meadows is the brainchild of sociologist Brenda Eheart, who envisioned the community as a solution to the problem of revolving-door foster care. Here are children who are considered "unadoptable" by the foster system--often because of behavioral problems--are given the chance to thrive in permanent homes.

At Hope Meadows, seniors find a renewed sense of purpose as foster grandparents. At Hope Meadows, the meaning of community is rediscovered and redefined as a network of caring relationships built upon a shared mission: piecing shattered childhoods back together again. With stirring photographs an inspirational stories of emotional and spiritual healing, this book is a tribute to a town built from the heart up.


My Review:
Hope Meadows is a compilation of biographies about the residents of Hope Meadows. The author explained how the whole idea started (the biography of the founder) and then did the biographies of various families living there--the foster parents, children and grandparents. We learn what the adult's lives were like before Hope Meadows, what brought them there, and about the children in their care.

There were brown-and-white pictures of the various people in the book. The stories were interesting, and, overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in the foster care system, troubled kids, or stories of adoption.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One