The Hope of Survivors
Support, Hope and Healing for Victims of Pastoral Sexual Abuse
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The problem The Hope of Survivors addresses is sexual abuse by spiritual leaders within every denomination and faith community, whether paid employees or volunteer staff/laity. Our goal is provide educational resources to aide in prevention of such abuses; create resources and provide one-on-one emotional and spiritual support to victims of clergy sexual abuse to facilitate their healing; and to raise awareness among congregations, Christian academia, etc., of the issue and the need to prevent it. Creating awareness of the issue, establishing policies to make congregations healthier and safer, are all part of the need we address.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Hope & Healing Conference for Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse
The purpose of this conference is to provide information and support to those who have been abused by members of the clergy (of any denomination). The conference is primarily for adult female victims of pastoral sexual abuse and their spouses, however, those who desire to learn more about pastoral sexual abuse and prevention may ask to attend. Topics Include:
What is pastoral sexual abuse?
How does this happen?
Is there an imbalance?
Who is vulnerable?
What are the vulnerabilities?
Why is this not an affair?
How do we prevent this?
Where is God?
How to start over?
How should the church respond?
And much more!
Where we work
Awards
Finalist 2017
Classy Awards
Affiliations & memberships
American Association of Christian Counselors 2019
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clergy sexual abuse victims who have contacted the organization for help
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Adolescents, Victims and oppressed people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
New victims of clergy sexual abuse who received direct support from The Hope of Survivors in 2020. It does not include the THOS private FB group or ongoing clients from prior years.
Number of clergy sexual abuse victims who have contacted the organization for help
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These figures do NOT include the thousands of visitors to our website each month who find the help they need without contacting The Hope of Survivors directly.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We help restore victims after the devastating scourge of clergy sexual misconduct, exposing the grooming process that led to their abuse, and explaining why this was not an affair. Victims experience a new and rejuvenated walk with God that fosters spiritual and emotional healing and safe human relationships.
We do this primarily through our website, continually refreshed with relevant articles and video testimonies, along with newsletters, phone support from experienced volunteers, exhibition booths at church events, and Hope & Healing Weekends for victims and their spouses. We also offer recovery ministry to spouses of morally compromised clergy.
We help spiritual leaders safeguard integrity through workshops, booths at conventions, and articles in professional journals.
Finally, we will harness emerging technologies to develop a virtual academy—on demand and accessible anywhere—offering professionally relevant courses to educate individuals (victims/survivors, clergy, lay leaders, mental health counselors, news reporters) and organizations (churches, seminaries and denominational headquarters).
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Hope of Survivors maintains a growing and active website (in multiple languages) to serve victims of clergy sexual abuse, as well as clergy and the public at large. Not only has the website been crucial in victims' recovery processes, but also in preventing abuse in many cases, and helping pastors better understand how to keep their congregations safe.
In addition to the website, the organization produces educational materials for use in churches, schools, counseling centers, etc. The booklet, Understanding Sexual Misconduct Among Spiritual Leaders, is available in English and Spanish and covers many angles and topics related to clergy sexual abuse.
Through the materials produced (booklets, DVDs, websites), one-on-one support, and a series of seminars (different seminars for clergy, victims and congregations), the organization is able to achieve its goals for helping victims, educating clergy and making churches safer places.
The Hope of Survivors has also launched Clergy Sexual Abuse Awareness & Prevention Day in August and is working collaboratively with other organizations to raise awareness.
In 2018, The Hope of Survivors created a private group on Facebook for survivors of clergy sexual abuse to provide support and information directly to each other and to feel connected to a network of other survivors. This Facebook group has grown immensely and victims find it very helpful to chat with other victims and share experiences.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Hope of Survivors' greatest resource and asset is its staff, from board members and officers to volunteers who assist with public relations, database maintenance, etc.
The core of the organization's staff know firsthand what it is like to experience clergy sexual abuse and, subsequently, heal from its devastating impact. This is a resource which victims affirm time and time again has been the most helpful to them, even above their ongoing appointments with local therapists, counselors and psychologists. For a victim to know she/he is speaking with someone who KNOWS what they have gone through and has experienced healing, gives hope in a way that is not readily available by other means.
This firsthand experience also improves the organization's ability to portray to clergy the damaging effects of abuse by someone in the role of spiritual authority. It has a greater impact than a speaker who would only be able to present statistics and textbook facts.The reason the organization is successful is because those who serve in any capacity on behalf of the organization are passionate about the goals of preventing clergy sexual abuse, assisting victims with their healing and raising awareness.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The organization has accomplished its initial goal of helping "just one". This was accomplished in 2003, a few months after the organization began (2002). To date, the organization has helped over 1,483 victims directly, through ongoing support, yet has helped thousands of victims worldwide through its website, TV & radio programs, educational materials, seminars, etc. Being able to recognize the positive impact the organization makes in people's lives compels us to go forward, to do more, provide more resources, raise greater awareness and focus on areas of prevention.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
The Hope of Survivors
Board of directorsas of 03/12/2023
Ms. Cindy Chamberlin
The Hope of Survivors
Term: 2022 - 2025
Cindy Chamberlin
The Hope of Survivors
Ted Vanderlaan
The Hope of Survivors
Carlos Rosero
The Hope of Survivors
Shyleene Rosado
The Hope of Survivors
Val Popesku
The Hope of Survivors
Nadiya Popesku
The Hope of Survivors
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/20/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.