Restored Hope is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that supports Black and Brown women and girls through their healing journey with programs that focus on the mind/body connection and holistic engagement. Its initiatives include after-school programming for girls, restorative yoga classes, and group therapy sessions. The organization also provides resources to relieve financial stress from families, including toiletries, household items, diapers, and school supplies.
Mental health remains a stigmatized topic in many families and communities, often leading to unresolved trauma. The idea of the “strong Black woman” often introduces the expectation that women of color should be able to suppress their emotions and put the needs of others before their own. Recognizing the resilience of girls and women of color, Restored Hope aims to disrupt the negative connotation associated with vulnerability and self-care.
The Girls Opportunity Alliance will support Restored Hope’s Yoga Project. This project is informed by a grassroots movement that believes in the power of yoga and meditation to produce resilience and healing, in turn creating positive social change. Restored Hope will offer yoga and mindfulness classes to 20 young women between the ages of 13 and 17. Program participants will take part in restorative yoga sessions, and they will be encouraged to share their learning with their families and communities. During Spring break, the students will travel for a service project at Restored Hope’s newly founded chapter in Ghana. The service project will provide girls with an opportunity to facilitate yoga sessions with their Ghanaian peers so that they can later share these practices within their own schools and communities.
Through this project, Restored Hope will support girls in their healing journey and give them the tools to share the mindfulness skills they learn. In doing so, the organization seeks to drive change at a community level, dismantling the stigma associated with mental health and asking for help. To learn more about Restored Hope, please visit the organization’s website and social media pages:
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