The story behind our name

Some of you may know this already, but I realized I didn’t have meaning of HOPE Grove somewhere easily shared with new families and followers.

The name HOPE Grove is very meaningful to me. Hope has been a motto of mine since our son was a baby in the hospital, hoping he would be healthy, hoping we could go home, hoping he would grow up to live an amazing life. I created a HOPE Turtle for a friend when their baby was hospitalized and Braden’s HOPE Turtles are now in Fiona's Hope Totes that are delivered to families facing extended stays in the hospital. Our motto- Slow and Steady is the Perfect Pace has been shared with over 1000 families through Fiona’s Hope Totes.

For HOPE Grove, HOPE can stand for Healthy Opportunities for Play and Education as well as a more occupational therapy driven frame of reference: Habits, Occupations, Purpose and Environment. Grove is in reference to our plan to be out in the wooded area of our property- truly immersed in nature.

Our logo is also meaningful as the arrows turned to trees are representative of our four children as well as the inclusive nature of our programming. The three arrows on the first tree symbolizes “the Lucky few” tattoo which is meaningful in the Down syndrome (Ds) community as people with Ds have three copies of their 21st chromosome. The arrows represent how the parents of these special children "rise up and move forward. We rise the highest after we've been pulled back and stretched — sometimes even more than we think we can bear."

We feel lucky to know and support so many amazing individuals with Down Syndrome. No matter how many chromosomes you have, you are welcome at HOPE Grove! Let's celebrate and be accepting of our differences and value the worth of each person we encounter.