Throughout our daily lives we are confronted with limits, told we can't do something. Some of these are to keep us safe, speed limits for example. Others are to impose order ex. 14 items or less in express lane. When we encounter a limit we have a choice to make, do I accept this limit or not? Each day we are confronted with other limits, either placed on us by society because its never been done before, or even worse by ourselves, because we don't believe it can be done. What limits have you placed on your life, what things do you tell yourself you can't do. Every time you limit yourself you are sending a message about yourself to your friends, family and especially your children. Do you want your children to limit themselves? 

People push limits. Few follow speed limits, we have all seen someone sneak in that 15th item in the express lane, if we can push these limits why don't we push those limits that we place on our own growth or success. Fear of failure? Fear of success, and how that might change our life. We sometimes get used to a paradigm of failure and don't allow our selves to make that important shift to success. 

I urge you to push the limits. Believe you can do it.....and be limitless

Last night was an amazing finale to a great season of Survivor. We have been cheering Lisa Whelchel on all season. HOPE is thrilled to have her as our Celebrating Women speaker in April 2013 and we are amazed and so proud at how she played the game, represented herself, and showed the world how tough she really is.
Of course we wanted Lisa to win, but we really feel that she already won. As a woman in transition she showed that it takes determination, knowing yourself, and believing in your self to succeed. Lisa made lots of parallels between the game of Survivor and life. At HOPE we see  women in transition everyday, and have tremendous respect for them as they overcome the real life challenges, puzzels, and obstacles they face each day. Except in real life their is no immunity. 
Thanks Lisa for a great season. We can't wait to meet you in "real life". Get your tickets now before they sell out. Our event is April 25th 2013 Gardner MA all proceeds to benefit women and children in need.

Lisa is still in it. She made it to the final four. Here at the House of Peace & Education we are thrilled. She has played the game with honor and been true to herself. This is what we teach the women and children we serve, and we are so pleased to see Lisa stick to her beliefs as well.
Last night our board members and the community gathered at a local restaurant to watch the show and drum up support. It was great to see the wonderful turnout and support for Lisa.
She has come so close to the end and now she will have some difficult decisions to make. I think if she can get to the end she will  have a compelling argument to the jury. She has not been a floater, she has played the game, she has stayed in because of her social skills, and strategy. Keep up the good work Lisa!!

Last night Survivor was quite the tear jerker. Lisa has had some
criticism for her frequent expression of emotion, but last night took it to a
new level. She broke down quite literally when her brother came out for the family visits. I feel that her reactions to the struggles of the game are
natural and "who Lisa is". She seems genuine and I don't think it is game play at all. Malcolm chose Lisa to come on the reward with him. This gave her additional time to visit and get some advice. Her brother encouraged her to make  another big move. Although ironically it was the same big move that backfired on her last time, voting out Malcolm. Lisa struggled with this, but the family visit seemed to cement the idea in her mind and she was able to get the support of her tribe mates. I was very worried about this move. Lisa needs to balance being too nice with creating enemies on the jury. if she comes across as having a good number of supporters on the jury no one will want to take her to the end for fear that she will beat them. If, however, she allows people to believe that she is conniving and manipulative she is going to get voted out. The saving grace last night was that Malcolm won immunity and was spared, but better for Lisa she didn't break an important alliance that could get her to the final 4. Here at HOPE we are in complete support of our 2013 Celebrating Women Speaker Lisa Whelchel and wish we could give her advice on how to proceed cautiously. She has played a great game, but bear in mind that the end is where it gets tricky. Next week Abi needs to go home and we can get Lisa to survive another tribal council. I see the final three as Denise, Malcolm and Lisa and I think in the end it will come down to the challenge. Get your tickets for our event and you can, see Lisa Whelchel here in Gardner MA, ask her about her survivor experience, and help underserved women and children at the same time.

At HOPE we are so excited to have Lisa Whelchel as our Celebrating Women speaker. Her inspirational story of overcoming transition and not losing herself in the process is a struggle many of us have faced. This theme in her life goes back to her early days as a child star and also can be seen in her current role on "Survivor", and as she goes through a divorce. I, for one, grew up watching her on "The Facts of Life". On that show Lisa was playing a part very different from who she is in her life, and who we see on "Survivor".  Blair would have no trouble in the sneaky side of "Survivor". Lisa is playing a great game this season, but seems to finds it hard to engage in the darker side when it comes to voting people out. Last night (Nov 28th) she had a hard decision to make; was she going to betray a friend, or "play" the game. I think that Lisa made the right decision and is staying true to her beliefs.


I have always been a fan of Survivor, but I have not had such a stake in someone winning before.

TEAM LISA!!!!

Christian Orobello
HOPE
Executive Director

One of the goals of our HOPE for Women program is to empower women to improve their lives through education and skill building. HOPE for Women recognizes that there are challenges to employment for women that go back to the early days of industrialization. Women and children often did the jobs no one else wanted to do or had the jobs that were most dangerous, in factories and textile mills. At HOPE we also see that women are put in the same category as undocumented individuals because they are often doing the least desirable work, which is often the most important to keeping our nation clothed, fed and healthy. 

At HOPE we work to provide women with the skills they need to
ensure independence and self sufficiency while being able to both work and meet their other responsibilities. Our computer training prepares women for the next step in furthering their careers or education. We work hard to understand the needs of our participants as well as their other roles. Many of the women are single mothers or the primary caretaker of the home and children. They are being asked by society to be caring and competent mothers as well as independent from state or federal assistance. Are we asking too much? Are we sacrificing our children’s futures? We may be doing so if we ask these women to support their families with little or no education. A woman who enters the workforce with
little job experience and no education is going to struggle to find a minimum wage job and will have to work overtime just to make ends meet. Her daycare costs may outweigh her salary thus encouraging her to not to seek employment.
Programs like Head Start, early Head Start and CAPS may allow women to return to work without paying all of their income to daycare, but these programs are struggling with federal cuts to funding and often have waiting lists for their
much needed services. If given the choice to be with her children or work a grueling minimum wage job paying almost her whole check to someone else to watch her children what choice would you make? 

When we look at the family decision making process around returning to work, childcare subsidies factor heavily into the decision. Unless we can provide a living wage to women and the training necessary to secure employment in such a job we are really hindering the decision making process and not giving her many options she can feel good about. We have basically told her that she is not a contributing member of society if she receives public assistance, but takes care of her children at home or that she is a bad mother for working a minimum wage job and having others raise her child while she works double shifts to make ends meet. 

HOPE is committed to providing the training necessary so women in our community can make an informed decision based on options not based on doing the least for themselves or their children.

What do you think?

Christian Orobello
Executive Director
House of Peace & Education, Inc.

Over a month after, some of us are still reveling in the success of HOPE's April 19, 2012 fund-raising event, Celebrating Women: An Evening with Gloria Steinem. The evening was enjoyed by over 300 ticket holders who gathered at Mount Wachusett Community College Theatre at the Mount to honor award recipients, Marcelle Cormier and Paula Mulqueen, R.N.; and to listen to guest speaker, Gloria Steinem, author, editor, and lifelong activist in support of social justice for woman and children. Ms. Steinem inspired us to "behave as if everything we do matters."

In addition to Ms. Steinem's address, Linda Patterson, a HOPE graduate turned board member shared her experience as a HOPE woman, emphasizing the importance of the organization's mission.

HOPE raised approximately $35,000, an amount that will directly support our work with at-risk women and children. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors and all who attended in support of HOPE.

Photos below by Latrice Cooper of Photography by Latrice.