In just about two weeks, our Eagle Rock Hope Tree will have a new home in the courtyard of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (2109 Chickasaw Avenue) in Eagle Rock, California! Join us on Sunday, August 14th at 9 AM when the tree will be unveiled to the public. Our Hope Tree will feature more than 400 raw, unedited hopes that we have personally listened to in the Eagle Rock community from neighbors of all ages and backgrounds. Anyone and everyone is be invited to add their own hope to the tree and, of course, read through all of the hopes of their community so they can learn and grow.

Also at 9 AM, you’ll also get a chance to hear from Sam Lundquist, the Founder of The Hope Chronicles, who will be sharing his vision and some wonderful stories from the past year of the project.

We can also use your help. We need to raise $200 to pay for printing, signage, lights, pens, supplies, and promotional materials to make the event a huge success. Every little bit helps, so please consider contributing even just $5. It all goes a long way. You can donate by clicking the ChipIn button on the left.

Finally, a huge thank you to the wonderful staff and congregation at St. Barnabas for hosting the tree on their patio. We hope you can all visit the tree sometime this month and learn about your Eagle Rock neighbors.

- The Hope Chronicles Team

Thank you to everyone who came to our first Hope Tree event in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles!

This project really began a year ago when dozens of humble and curious Community Listeners set foot onto the sidewalks of their own neighborhood to ask friends, family, and strangers one question: What do you hope for?

Conversation after conversation taught them new things about their neighbors. Listening changed them. The heart of their community was opened up.

Just 12 months later… what an marvelous sight to see those 300 raw, honest, REAL hopes from REAL neighbors in Eagle Rock playfully fluttering in the breeze of one of the community’s most beautiful parks.

This was absolutely breathtaking.

Our event began with a little help from Eagle Rock High School and a half dozen students who graciously helped hang each hope, leaf-by-leaf, on the branches of the tree. Soon, they were reading the leaves out loud to one another.

“Monica: I hope to continue learning how to love.”

“Karol hopes to get his son back.”

“Joey: I hope to become a professional skateboarder.”

As more and more Eagle Rock neighbors of all ages came to the tree, we invited them to add their own hope to the conversation.

Click here to download a PDF of the 350+ hopes we heard in Eagle Rock, California.

Corinna: “I hope for healing in the city.”

Elise, 8: “I hope for equality and rights for everyone.”

Rachel, 47: “My hope… a grandbaby.”

These are just a few of Eagle Rock’s hopes. You can download a PDF of all 350 hopes by clicking the booklet cover on the right. It’s page after page of REAL thoughts and feelings. Take a moment and read through it. We invite you to let their words teach and transform you.

For me, the most unforgettable part of the event came at sunset. Our volunteers and I walked over to the tree, ready to pack up the project leaf-by-leaf. But, we stopped in front of it and simply didn’t want to. It was just too beautiful. Here was this unassuming tree—its grafted-on paper leaves swirling in the wind—that told this community’s story. A story that told the true, unabridged, open, and honest goings-on of this neighborhood. A story of people and the most important things in their lives. How could we possibly take it down?

Unfortunately, we had to do it. We didn’t want the paper leaves to accidentally fall down and litter the park. In the meantime, we are working diligently to get the tree re-installed at another location (or even several locations) in Eagle Rock, so that these hopes can be shared and even more can be added.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped make leaves, hang them, and shared these hopes with the community. Thank you to the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council for organizing such a fantastic event. Here’s to more events in the future and (I hope!) more ways for this neighborhood to listen, learn, and grow.

- Sam Lundquist and the Hope Chronicles Team

If you’re interested in a Hope Chronicles event with your organization, club, school, or house of worship, please contact us at hope@thehopechronicles.org.

Event Photos:

Join us Friday, June 17th from 4 PM – Sunset at Yosemite Park for our humble Hope Tree, a collection of more than 200 hopes from our neighbors in Eagle Rock, California.

The Story

In May 2010, fifty Community Listeners spent an afternoon in Eagle Rock, California asking their neighbors about their hopes, their hearts, and their lives.

We talked to more than 200 people from every walk of life. Small children. Grandparents. A few friends. More strangers. Folks just passing by. Lifelong residents.

This was a chance to for a community to come together to listen, learn, change, and grow. Each and every conversation was important, and they all started with one simple question: “What do you hope for?”

For three hours, we listened and wrote down our neighbors’ responses. We heard simple hopes: that more people would sing and share music, that people would respect one another, that children could succeed at school. We heard deep hopes: that a nephew would be returned to a family, that a man could get off the street, that a struggling neighborhood would see things turn around. Beautifully simple and yet tremendously deep, for three hours our ears were tuned to nothing but hope. And we walked away amazed at how listening to our neighbors’ words transformed us.

The Tree

On June 17th, we are excited to share with you the 200 hopes from these Eagle Rock neighbors with our first ever Hope Tree so that you too can be transformed. Hanging from our Hope Tree will be hundreds of leaves, each a window into the hopeful heart of one of the people we spoke with. Plus, you’ll get a chance to hang your own hope on the tree.

After the event, this entire collection of hopes will be compiled and distributed to every school, non-profit, civic organization, and house of worship in Eagle Rock with the invitation to reflect, absorb, and learn from what their neighbors are saying. This will be the first time this community has received a collective picture of what their neighborhood is hoping for.

Join us for this event and a chance to watch a small community to share their biggest hopes.

— The Hope Chronicles Team