Take a very close look at the next document, as it covers the philosophy and approach of Fresh Hope. Familiarize yourself with this, as it is at the heart and center of what makes Fresh Hope uniquely Fresh Hope.
The Goals of Fresh Hope (Vision)
- To equip and empower individuals (and their loved ones) who are affected by a mental health diagnosis to live a full, rich and purpose-filled life in wellness and wholeness (mental, physical and spiritual) through participation in local Fresh Hope groups which are Christ-centered peer support groups, as well as online forums, educational opportunities and faith based mental health resources.
- To provide ongoing assistance to individuals and their families during times of transition, by providing Mental Health Navigators in local communities who are certified peer support specialists and certified wellness coaches.
- To challenge the Christian church to address the mental health crisis in their community- challenging them to provide a “compassionate, understanding, safe and supportive-place” for those who struggle with mental health issues. This includes understanding that many mental health challenges are due to the brain’s improper function and are not character flaws, moral failures or a spiritual weakness.
- To advocate on both the state and national level for continued mental health reforms to repair the issues that are “broken” in the system.
- To provide peer run wellness centers in the local communities as a positive place of encouragement, connection, empowerment and learning.
- To join with other organizations and voices in tearing down the thick walls of cultural stigma regarding “mental illness.”
Fresh Hope Philosophy
Fresh Hope is a peer-to-peer Christ-centered wellness approach to mental health recovery based upon six tenets that empower people to connect both their faith and recovery principles. This approach both empowers and encourages individuals to live full and rich lives in spite of their diagnosis.
The Fresh Hope approach includes the following biases:
- Peer-to-peer support plays a very significant role in one’s successful recovery
- There is a difference between “just coping” and thriving
- When used exclusively, the medical model can lead to a “learned helplessness”
- Recovery and wellness is a “taking back” of one’s life and living it to the fullest possible.
- Peers who give back by coming along side others in recovery sometimes receive even more than they “give.”
- People who have “been there” often times understand and help more people than those who have not been “through it.”
- Faith in Christ is foundational to having hope in hopeless situations.
- The Christian church needs to be proactive and reach out with hope to the millions who are in emotional pain.
- The state and federal mental health systems cannot do “it all”; there are many things they could improve upon.
- One must accept personal responsibility for his/her own recovery and wellness.
- Sometimes you have to simply “push-through” even though you feel horrible or like giving up.
- It’s self-destructive to use your mental health diagnosis as an excuse for not moving forward in recovery.
- Medicine is necessary. Being over medicated is not.
- Hope not only involves faith, but a plan of how to get to the place you want to be in life based upon your gifts and abilities.
- At times, peers need to challenge one another to move forward in recovery (and many times only peers are able to do this).
- One needs true accountability to safe people who will hold them accountable in their thinking and behavior.