Hope Rising Groups
Hope Rising Groups
Read together. Practice hope. Help hope rise.
Hope Rising Groups bring people together around a powerful book, meaningful conversation, and a simple belief: hope is not only something we feel. Hope is something we can understand, strengthen, and put into action.
Start a Hope Rising GroupThe book behind Hope Rising
Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life
By Casey Gwinn & Chan Hellman
Hope is more than optimism. In Hope Rising, Casey Gwinn and Chan Hellman bring together decades of research to show that hope can be understood, measured, and strengthened. The book gives readers a practical framework for recognizing what erodes hope and taking concrete steps toward a better future.
That makes the book more than a traditional book-club read. It gives your group a shared language for talking about goals, pathways, setbacks, resilience, and the choices that move us toward a future we can influence.
Get the BookHope can be understood
Instead of treating hope as a vague feeling, the book gives your group a practical, research-based way to talk about it.
Hope can grow
The book helps readers notice what strengthens or erodes hope and identify concrete ways to build more of it.
Hope belongs in daily life
The conversation moves beyond the pages: into your relationships, work, faith, community, and the challenges you are facing right now.
Why this book + DuHope?
The science becomes personal. The work in Rwanda makes it visible.
Women in DuHope are doing the very work the book invites us to consider: imagining a different future, identifying pathways toward it, building the skills and support to move forward, and continuing when the path is difficult.
As your group reads, DuHope connects the ideas in the book to real lives in Rwanda. You'll also be challenged to ask what active hope looks like where you live.
The idea at the heart of Hope Rising
Hope is a verb.
Hope is not simply believing things will get better. It becomes visible in what we do next.
In Rwanda, for a woman working to leave survival sex work, hope can look like showing up for training, learning a skill, saving money, building a business, or taking another step toward stable work.
And the same is true in your life. Hope might mean having the hard conversation, asking for help, starting something new, choosing a different path, serving your neighbor, or taking one small step toward a goal that matters.
In Rwanda and at home, hope rises when it becomes action.
The journey your group walks alongside
Entry & Assessment
Understand each woman's readiness, strengths, needs, and the support required for her journey.
Stabilization
Build foundations through routines, safety, emotional well-being, health, life skills, and financial literacy.
Skill Building
Develop vocational, work-readiness, communication, teamwork, and practical financial skills.
Transition & Launch
Move toward employment, apprenticeship, microbusiness, cooperative opportunities, or another viable income pathway.
How a Hope Rising Group works
1. Gather your people
Invite friends, a church or small group, book club, women's group, workplace, or community.
2. Read the book together
Get copies of Hope Rising and choose a rhythm for reading and discussing it together.
3. Connect the book to life and Rwanda
Use the conversations to explore the science of hope in your own life while DuHope stories and updates connect those ideas to women pursuing safer, more stable futures.
4. Put hope into practice
Identify ways to practice hope where you live and help make DuHope's program possible in Rwanda.
Who can start a group?
Churches, small groups, book clubs, women's groups, friends, workplaces, teams, and community organizations. You don't need to be an expert on Rwanda or DuHope. We'll help you get started.
Start a Hope Rising Group
Tell us a little about your group. We'll follow up with the next steps and everything you need to get started.