Our organization was created by a local couple, Amy and Jay Warner, along with a group of teens that Amy worked with in a Girl2Girl group sponsored by Americore. After Americore's program ended, the group wanted to continue to meet so Amy and Jay started Eyes of Hope as a non-profit to secure the funds to continue to offer programming to the teenagers. Since Eyes of Hope's inception, our programs and focus areas have morphed over time to fit the current needs of youth in our community. Early programs included Hope Arts, which sponsored music lessons and art and Mom's in Touch which supported pregnant teen mothers. We also began connecting with the high school to advocate for children who needed additional help and to open the discussion and raise awareness of racism experienced by students in our community. We kept learning by attending the Racial Equity conferences in Madison on an annual basis. We took Girl2Girl students to the YWCA conversations on race. Eventually, a Guy Squad program was formed which was a mentorship program between community members and young men, helping to guide them from middle school through high school graduation. For several years we offered after school care through our Hope Explorers program to the children in the Bay View Heights Community. Currently, our programs include Hope Tutors, which matches volunteer community members with students to offer them cost-free tutoring services as well as Hope Gardens, which offers free and low cost gardening programs for Stoughton's youth at Lowell Park Community Children's Garden. We also play a hand in Stoughton's annual Juneteenth celebration through planning and serving as fiscal agent for the Juneteenth event.
Our Board is comprised of caring community members who wish to improve the lives of Stoughton's youth. We are always asking ourselves: What do the youth of our community need? And how can we use our community collaborations to improve their academic, social and emotional development?
Please reach out to us at eohstoughtonwi@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our Board to support Stoughton's youth or if you have ideas for programming or collaborations with us.