YOUR GUIDE TO
BECOMING A
COMMUNITY LISTENER
ASK. LISTEN. CHANGE. SHARE.
Welcome to The Hope Chronicles!
We are on an amazing, new journey. An adventure that’s changing us, shaping us, and making our
communities better. We are thrilled that you are coming along with us.
Thank you for your interest in joining us as a Community Listener as we continue our work of
cultivating compassion through conversation. Everything we do starts with you.
Remember, all we want you to do is ask one question to your neighbors: ‘‘What do you hope for?" Then,
share your story with us. That’s it! This guide includes some ideas that might help you get started.
Inside you’ll find:
OUR MISSION
COMMUNITY LISTENING
ASKING A QUESTION
SHARING YOUR STORY
Who we are. What we do.
Why we do it.
Helpful tips on how to ask your
neighbors about hope.
Our process that begins with
one simple question.
Some guidelines on how to tell
the world about your experience.
Thanks again for joining with us. We can’t wait to watch, read, and hear all your stories of hope!
The Hope Chronicles Team
email: [email protected] | phone: 323-963-3752
The Hope Chronicles is dedicated to
cultivating compassion through conversation.
We create Community Listening projects that invite
individuals and organizations to listen to their neighbors
respond to one question: What do you hope for?” Through
this process, they learn that everyone is worth listening
to, and they begin to share compassion.
Every person on the planet is important and good. No
exceptions. Compassion grows inside of us when we recognize
that and begin to see everyone around us as our true neighbor.
We believe that Hope is the deep place within us all that is
wonderfully good. We ask our question so we can listen to that
place. We share what we hear so you can listen, too.
Through our projects and our website, we want the Hope inside
you to connect with the Hope inside another. When those
two places meet, a place of caring opens up and compassion
can’t help but grow. Only with compassion can we build strong
communities and a more understanding world.
Our Hope
We hope that through our projects and events, we can help
individuals and organizations grow in compassion to one
another, paving the way for better, more understanding
communities.
The Hope Chronicles is driven by our Community Listening process, a four-step method
for engaging communities and cultivating compassion. These are simply guidelines, and
we invite you to adapt them to fit your own needs and personality. By following this
framework, you can ensure your success as a Community Listener.
Community Listening begins when you ask our question What do you hope for?”- to friends, family, neighbors, and
strangers. This might be a one-time or ongoing event.
You continue by listening - always with an open heart and
mind - to the responses to our question. This might be a
one-word answer or the beginning of a long conversation.
Then, please take time to reflect on what you have heard
and ‘‘absorb" the hopes of the people in your community.
This might be self-guided or a group activity.
We ask that you share your experience, including the hopes
you heard and how you were changed. Usually, this is a blog
entry for our website, but you can dream up anything.
Community Listening starts with our
simple question: What do you hope for?
We invite you to ask this question however
you’d like, but here are some things we’ve
found useful in our own listening.
Pay attention to what is said. Be interested in your neighbor. Make an effort to
listen to their story. Don’t just be there to collect information. Allow yourself to be
open to everything your neighbor is telling you.
As you approach someone and as you listen to them, always smile. Your smile
will probably make them smile. And it’s going to show them that you are truly
interested in talking with them.
You’re there to listen, change, and grow in compassion. You’re there to have a
dialogue. If there’s something you want to know, then ask in an honest and
humble way. Don’t be afraid to ask ‘‘why?’’
Throughout all of this, be yourself. Ask questions that seem right to you. Take risks
in talking with people, but don’t force anything. Take this idea of listening to your
community, and make it your own.
What You Need.
You. Bring yourself with an open mind and a
curiosity about your community.
What To Ask.
If they agree to appear on video, invite the people you
speak with to respond like this:
A Way to Record. Always carry with you one or
two ways to capture your conversations.
• Video: Use your cellphone or a handheld
video camera.
• Audio: Use an audio recorder or your cell
phone’s voice memo feature.
• Written Word: Create a Hope Journal.
Cards & Stickers. Make sure people know that
Hi, my name is _______. I’m ___ years old
from _____. And I hope for ____________.”
We also like asking some of these follow-up questions:
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Why does that hope come to the top of your list?
What about hopes for family? Friends? The world?
What’s a hope you have for your neighborhood?
Is there anything we can do to fulfill that hope?
you’re a part of our team.
Where To Go.
What To Say.
We encourage you to use your own words to speak to
your community, but here’s a quick script to get you
started. This is only a suggestion, so read through this
and get a feel of how you might say these words:
(1) Introduce Yourself.
‘‘Hi there! How are you doing today? We have a quick
question for you. My name is __________, and I’m a
Community Listener working with an organization
called The Hope Chronicles.’’
(2) Hand Out Cards and Stickers.
(3) Introduce The Project.
‘‘We are a group of people in neighborhoods all over the
world asking people to answer one simple question:
‘What is your hope?’” Whether it’s for you, your family,
your city, this world...’’
‘‘We’re doing this to help build compassion and
understanding in our community. We’ll be sharing these
hopes online at thehopechronicles.org so others can be
enlightened, inspired, and join us.’’
You are free to ask people about hope in whatever places
feel comfortable to you. Here’s a quick list of some of the
places that we often go to talk with people:
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Public Spaces
Parks
Plazas & Courtyards
Malls
Busy Streets
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Stores
Trains
Subways
Bars
Schools & Universities
Don’t Get Frustrated.
Not everyone will want to talk to you. Some people are
uncomfortable. Others are busy. We encourage you to
nicely, kindly, even jokingly ask people to participate.
Remind them that their hope can be anything. You
simply want to know because you’re curious.
If they don’t want to be on camera, just have a
conversation. Or write down something in a journal. Or
record them with just audio.
Many of our Community Listeners love
creating Hope Journals and circulating them
at work, at home, or even while they travel.
Here are some easy ideas on how to create a
journal for your own community!
Create your journal with our special inserts
located on the next page.
First, fill in your name. If you’ll be traveling, include your
seat number on the appropriate lines so the journal gets
returned to you after your plane/train/bus trip.
After the journal is ready to go, ‘‘prime it’’”by writing your
own hope. Include your name, age, hometown, and email
address to encourage others to do the same.
Take this book to anyone (neighbors, organizations,
coworkers) who you think might be interested.
When your Hope Journal is full or when your
trip is over, make sure you get your journal back.
Introduce yourself, and tell them about our project.
Encourage them to write or draw a picture. Refer them to
the letter inside the front cover if they have any questions.
Travelers, remind them to pass it to the person next to/
behind them once they’re done so that the journal keeps
moving. Don’t forget to say ‘‘Thank You!’’”
If it’s not full yet, feel free to reuse it on another outing,
event, or trip. Just swap out the front cover insert with a
blank one.
Email us at [email protected] and we’ll give
you further instructions.
Hi there! My name is ____________________________,
I am a Community Listener for The Hope Chronicles,
a movement dedicated to cultivating compassion
through conversation by asking one simple question:
What do you hope for?
And that’s where you come in.
This journal holds the hopes my neighbors. I’d like you to
add yours by filling in this blank:
I hope for____________.
This can be a personal hope, or a hope for your family.
A hope for your town, or a hope for the world.
So, write one word. Or tell a story. Draw a picture.
Write a poem. Whatever hope means to you. Be creative.
Soon, all of these hopes will live online at
thehopechronicles.org to be shared with people
everywhere.
Hi there! My name is ____________________________,
and I’m sitting in Seat ____. I am a Community Listener
for The Hope Chronicles, a movement dedicated to
cultivating compassion through conversation by asking
one simple question: What do you hope for?
That’s where you come in.
This journal holds the hopes my travels. I’d like you to
add yours by filling in this blank:
I hope for____________.
This can be a personal hope, or a hope for your family.
A hope for your town, or a hope for the world.
So, write one word. Or tell a story. Draw a picture.
Write a poem. Whatever hope means to you. Be creative.
Soon, all of these hopes will live online at
thehopechronicles.org to be shared with the world.
__________________________
visit us online at
take
thehopechronicles.org
__________________________
We create Community
Listening projects that invite
individuals and organizations
to listen to their neighbors
respond to one question:
‘’What do you hope for?”
Through this process, they
learn that everyone is worth
listening to, and they begin
to share compassion.
Thanks!
We are a movement
dedicated to cultivating
comapssion through
conversation.
Thanks!
What is
The Hope Chronicles?
To stay connected, please take a sticker from the back
pocket of this journal. If this journal happens to get lost,
please call me at 323-963-3752.
already did?
pass me
along to ___
To stay connected, please take a sticker from the back
pocket of this journal. If this journal happens to get lost,
please call me at 323-963-3752.
a look!
Please also write your first name, hometown, and age.
And we’d love to contact you when we share your hope
online, so please leave your email address.
Please also write your first name, hometown, and age.
And we’d love to contact you when we share your hope
online, so please leave your email address. Then, pass
this journal to the person next to you, and have them do
the same. Once it gets to the back, please return it to me
in Seat ____.
When you feel like you’re ready to share your experience as a Communty Listener, contact
us at [email protected]. We’ll post your hopes and your story on our website
for people all over the world to see.
We’d like for you to send us two things:
First, please send us the hopes you’ve listened to in your neighborhood. Email us
and we’ll arrange the best way to send these, depending on whether you have
videos, audio files, or a journal.
Second, we would like to hear what happened to you personally during your
Community Listening journey. We invite you to express this in whatever way fits
you. This might be a blog, poem, story, photo gallery, song, or video. Be creative!
As you tell your story, you might think about the following questions:
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Why did you join us as a Community Listener?
What did hope”and listening”mean to you before you started?
What was your first experience like?
How have people responded to you?
What are some of the hopes that you heard over and over again?
Do any of your conversations stick out? Why?
What have you learned about your community?
What surprised you about the people you met?
What are some ways you’ve changed or begun to think differently?
How can you better serve your community because of what you’ve learned?