Restore Hope helps kick off Thrive Iowa

LEE COUNTY – The Thrive Iowa effort is officially underway.
After rolling out the basics of the program in February, a new grant-funded initiative to help those struggling to gain a foothold on life was formally kicked off Wednesday morning at Quality Inn & Suites.
Tessa Schroeder is the coordinator of the program that is being implemented under the umbrella of the Lee County Health Department, but is part of the Restore Hope program based in Little Rock, Ark.
Restore Hope helps with operational capacity and the group created a web-based system of networking where local volunteers step in to help guide individuals to services and support to get their lives from crisis to careers.
Paul Chapman, Executive Director for Restore Hope based in Little Rock, Ark., talked about the process involved in getting individuals and families trapped in failing lifestyles the help they need.
Chapman said the program is run via a website supported by Restore Hope. Candidates for the program are only limited by the capacity of the support system. Those who come to the Thrive Initiative for help will fill it out an application online and then navigators will reach out to connect. Each person will be assigned an “alliance” of support volunteers who will connect with each other to address specific problems with each client, whether it’s housing, therapy, transportation, childcare, etc. and move the client back from crisis to career.
Schroeder said the initiative has to be community-led.
“Thrive Iowa is a community initiative that helps families that are in crisis or at risk for crisis to find stability. But more than that to find self-sufficiency and really thrive,” she said.
“The navigators assess our participants on 13 different care areas and work with them to pinpoint the areas they may have the most need. Then connect them with resources in our communities and then walk along side them until they reach their goals.”
She said the collaborate case management system called Hope Hub is used to track participant progress and align community support with providers in the community. She said data is also shared in community alliance meetings.
“We can use that data to inform our brainstorming and our problem solving around those issues,” Schroeder said.

Lee County Health Department Administrator Michele Ross said there were lots of opportunities in the county for assistance and got excited about Restore Hope’s model and the Hope Hub, calling it a “no brainer”.
She said the tools allow the county to have a central point of coordination for services for at-risk families.
“We’ve been trying to work together for a central point of entry for care. Something that we can collaborate on. We always asked what if our programs could just talk to each other. What if we had familiar referral forms or a network that could really help families access the services they need in the timely manner and not have to navigate through providers.”
She said now is the time to stop working in silo programs and efforts must be collective to help families get to self-sufficiency.
Ross said it’s no secret Lee County has a lot of issues to address, including poverty and child maltreatment, homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse issues.
“This initiative model we’ve brought in, as well as the Restore Hope model and Hope Hub database – we think it’s going to very successful for us in Lee County,” Ross said.
Keokuk Mayor Mark Smidt said he was proud of the work being done in Lee County, but said he had to be honest about the challenges. He said Keokuk is currently experiencing 18% poverty rate and a history of generational poverty.
“We know that good intentions alone are not enough. As the former CEO of Hoerner YMCA and now Mayor of Keokuk, I’ve seen too many families in need struggling to find the resources and connect with programs they need to succeed,” he said.
“We need a plan and a model that works, and thanks to Thrive Iowa, we now have one.”
The intiative already has 16 individuals connected in the  program that was introduced to the community in four months ago.
To access Thrive Iowa in Lee County, anyone can submit a referral for themselves, a family member, or a client by visiting the HopeHub.io Platform and clicking "Submit a Referral," or by calling the Lee County Health Department at 319-372-5225.