Heroes of Hope Exhibit 1: The Flame of Hope

Welcome, everyone! , My name is Marie, I am an Outreach Coordinator at Hope Builders.

Thank you for joining us. Today, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hope Builders and the countless number of Heroes of Hope who’ve shaped our legacy.

Here at this exhibit, I want to share the heart behind it all—the “why” of Hope Builders. At its core, we were founded to unlock the greatness in young people—especially those facing significant barriers to success.

Behind me, you’ll see a spotlight on one of our founding heroes, Pat Ortiz, a former board member and long time supporter. His superpower? The Flame of Hope—which, unlike the Olympic torch, has never gone out and doesn’t require anyone to jog in spandex to keep it going.

As Pat once said: “I’ve been involved with Hope Builders since the beginning and am proud of how they continue igniting hope in countless young adults. This flame represents hope that has been passed from one generation of supporters to the next—kind of like a family recipe, only this one transforms lives. It has ignited real change for more than 7,500 young people right here in Orange County.

Now, let’s take a moment to explore how it all began…

More than three decades ago, as you saw in our video, the Sisters of St. Joseph saw a challenge in the community and decided to do something about it. They recognized a serious need:

By going directly to the streets and talking with our community’s young people, they discovered countless youth who were feeling lost and struggling—out of school, out of work, and in need of help. Meanwhile, employers were desperately looking for qualified, skilled talent. Today, we estimate there remain approximately 30,000 youth in our community who could benefit from Hope Builders.

The Sisters took a BIG leap of faith. They gathered community leaders to brainstorm solutions—and I like to think there was a lot of Starbucks involved too. Out of those meetings came the first gift, which led to the first training class, which paved a pathway to prosperity for thousands of young adults.

Long ago, Pat, encouraged Sister Eileen to dream big. He helped her find the building that became our construction training site and then helped secure the funding to purchase it in 2001—because apparently, “dream big” also means “sign big checks.”

For the last 30 years, we’ve kept innovating— assessing the labor market, adding new programs, and updating curriculum. Our 3 training verticals cover: construction, medical assisting, and child development. These are good paying jobs with career path opportunities. And because career skills alone aren’t enough, we provide life skills, mock interviews, and mentorship—basically helping them to build their courage and overcome the panic of the job search.

In addition, we operate a social enterprise staffing agency, called Hope Builders Career Connections, where we provide help for employers. You’ll learn more at display 4 . That spirit of innovation and collaboration is exactly why Hope Builders—has not just survived—but thrived for three decades.

So, as we celebrate 30 years, we honor the visionaries who first ignited the flame—and we invite you to help carry it forward. After all, keeping hope alive is way easier when heroes unite to share the torch. Together we can power up all 30,000 young people in our community who need the chance to unleash their true superpowers and realize their full potential.