About
A letter from Hope’s Executive Director Steve Messeh about the “Why” behind the organization.
I haven’t always been a nonprofit leader. In fact, the majority of my professional life has been spent in the exact opposite world, corporate America. For 10 years, I was a consultant for KPMG and Deloitte & Touché. And while I was grateful for the opportunity to work, I always struggled to find satisfaction and meaning from my career and used volunteering and philanthropy in my spare time to fill that void. I did a lot of volunteering in my free time. I volunteered locally at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, schools, hospitals, as well as abroad through various volunteer trips to sub-Saharan African countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Congo, as well as in my family’s native country of Egypt. These experiences shaped so much of how I view my current work and were foundational moments in forming the basis for what would later become Hope Multiplied.
While these experiences were amazing opportunities to serve, there were certain aspects of the work that I would find myself wrestling with internally in my soul and in my spirit. Often times, we would go to these programs or projects and get so ingratiated in the work that I would find myself stopping and thinking, “where did this idea or need come from?” “Has anyone connected with someone in need here to understand their specific situations or issues?” “where are those in need and how are we listening to them and their needs?” “What do we really know about this community and the people in it?”
“Whenever we went into a new community or neighborhood in the DC area, the first thing we did, before we DID anything, was we LISTENED.”
And so when a group of leaders decided to start Hope Multiplied, it was my opportunity to address those lingering questions in my head and challenge the status quo. So that’s exactly what we did. Whenever we went into a new community or neighborhood in the DC area, the first thing we did, before we DID anything, was we LISTENED. We connected with community leaders and community organizers to understand those in need and listen to their specific circumstances. We sat down with them, talked to them, listened to them, looked them in the eyes, and even walked with them through the neighborhood. We didn’t do anything until we had a real understanding of the greatest needs. In certain neighborhoods, that meant meeting with local leaders, government officials, etc. while in other places that meant walking the streets and finding trusted community leaders and elders, activists and organizers, school leaders and other nonprofits. Whatever it took, that was our starting point. And that’s why we always say what we do is very much dependent on where we serve.
Through that foundational work, we began to identify the greatest needs in each community in the DC area and address them through unique programs designed by subject matter expert volunteers and staff. And I’ve always felt that the ability to tailor your programming and work to the various needs of various communities can only be done because of the amazing human resources we have working for Hope and invested in building out these programs and projects. And that includes the over 300 volunteers who participate in our programs and make our work so valuable. We always strive to recruit and engage passionate volunteers and leaders who are willing to use their background and experiences, as well their unique gifts, talents, and abilities in the service of others. We aren’t just looking for warm bodies to fill in gaps and holes in service. And we’re intentional about bringing volunteers together with each other to create lifelong friendships and bonds that are centered around their common interest in helping others.
So that’s our story: Connect with those in need and use amazing, passionate people to meet those in needs in a strategic way. When it all comes together, it’s a beautiful thing. Seeing passionate volunteers connect with those most in need and being able to freely give of themselves to others and feeling and seeing the impact of that giving is something I feel so honored to have a front row seat to. And when it all comes together, the end result is communities in need finding HOPE in the midst of difficult circumstances and finding real tangible solutions to the greatest challenges they face on a daily basis. And ultimately, when our work grows big enough and more of those needs are met by more amazing volunteers, we will begin to see cycles of poverty and injustice broken for future generations.
With Hope,
Steve Messeh
Executive Director, Hope Multiplied