MILWAUKEE — At Hope Street, located at 26th and Capitol in Milwaukee's 53206 zip code, they specialize in helping people grow.
Ashley Thomas is the Executive Director of Hope House, "It's a safe space where people can come in and we try to provide a space that feels like home, a space that's kind of void of some of those toxic things that people find outside."
Ashley has spent a decade helping men, women, and children with their housing component and now their new state-of-the-art community center Shechem at Hope Street...that's been around for a year.
"We have what's called the green space and that's a resource room, so there's computers, we have different partners that we work with that come and share that space and then an outdoor courtyard rooftop space which is actually my favorite."
When you walk through the doors of Shechem, you're greeted by the smiling face of Kelly Bentley.
"So I started over at Hope Street 10 years ago coming off of drugs and alcohol and I needed a new place to be because I didn't want to go back to where I came from, so I started there. They taught me how to live a normal life," said Bentley.
Now 13 years clean, she's responsible for community relations and membership. At Shechem, there's also a basketball court, after-school programming, and a major sense of community.
Jacob Falck and Jama Marvel both serve as volunteers.
"You come into a place like this and everything about it screams impact, and you see how lives have changed here," said Falck.
"I found over time, we were developing community, so some of the things I do is I just bring treats, we sit down have tea. I try to make it a little nicer by having formal teacups and just sitting around making it special," said Marvel.
Special is putting it lightly. Shechem at Hope Street not only provides housing and community, but it's also a necessary space that thrives by a unified body of people with one common goal.
"I love my job, I love the people that I'm surrounded with and it's just like another family here," said Bentley.
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