Hope Center Celebrates Its Families And Neighborhood With Annual Carnival

It’s better than a block party, because everyone is invited. Hope Center’s annual summer carnival isn’t a fundraiser, but a grassroots neighborhood get-together designed to strengthen families, offer resource information and just share some summertime food, games and music. This year’s version was doubly appreciated after the pandemic forced the event’s shutdown in 2020.

Encouraging a Plinko player

Need some smiles in your life? Just watch Hope Center kids, teachers and families interact in the games area, as little ones try their hand at winning points for prizes. At just 25 cents per activity, it’s an opportunity for everyone. The bounce house remained a popular draw for the kids, and ‘dogs, soft drinks, snow cones and cotton candy were available for all. Marsha Brown was on hand from Denver Human Services, and mentioned that DHS supported the event with donated food and a resource booth. President/CEO Gerie Grimes greeted friends old and new, and eventually was able to kick back and enjoy the festivities as well.

It’s all smiles with this mom and daughter.

Founded in 1962 with an enrollment of six children and a staff of two teachers, Hope Center is an institution for early childhood education and adults with disabilities. Today the center has a daily enrollment of more than 200 children and 35 adults, with an average staff of 30. Hope Center has achieved a distinguished record of helping special needs children and adults advance intellectually, vocationally, emotionally and socially to become contributing members in their families and productive members of their community. Services include a high-quality preschool program for ages 2-1/2 to 5, a vocational day program for adults and parent/providers, and a gifted program for ages 3 to 5.

A strong community advocate for equity and equality in the communities it serves, Hope Center is known for its nationally recognized curriculum and high-quality learning experiences. In addition to general education, the center provides special needs preschool for children who have been identified with delays in areas of speech and behavior. It also supports at-risk children who are bilingual or multicultural with an experiential and language-based curriculum. To learn more, please visit: https://www.hopecenterinc.org/