MILWAUKEE – In the inner city of Milwaukee, much like most of the inner cities of America, there is a climate of poverty and violence, a climate filled with families struggling to offer their children all they need in practical and personal support. Too often, a life involved in gangs, drugs, and crime seems to be the most promising alternative, an alternative that ends in hopelessness.

The urban game of basketball is interwoven throughout the culture of the inner cities. It’s a sport that captures the imagination of youth as they watch and attempt to emulate their heroes on the court. In this game, they find a glimmer of hope.

Hoops With Hope seeks to use this game urban youth love as a vehicle that can build confidence, character development, and – in every part of their life – hope.

Hoops With Hope is a program founded and led by caring individuals who work in sports, business, public and youth service. It combines experience with organizations that have earned six NBA titles, two final fours and 14 state high school basketball championships, re-started inner city schools and served young people for decades, and expanded business in the central city Milwaukee community. This experience has formed the vision the board of directors has built in partnership with Hoops With Hope Senior Consultant Br. Bob Smith, OFM. The program’s mission is founded in the principles of “Finding God in All Things” and “Care for the Whole Person,” designed to sensitively serve youth of all beliefs.

“Our goal is to give youth a chance and the support needed to make a life for themselves,” says Wayne Larrivee, Co-Chairman of Hoops With Hope. “The sport of basketball is just the vehicle, but the end result is something bigger than sports. We’re not making NBA players, we’re assisting the formation of people.”

Hoops With Hope reaches out to the schools, churches, and community programs in Milwaukee to find youth from urban backgrounds whom it can best serve, looking for teens who have a love for the game of basketball and who face tough personal, economic and societal challenges. Among its 2005 youth partners are:
Boys and Girls Club - Mary Ryan Branch, 3000 N. Sherman Boulevard.,
COA Youth and Family Centers, 909 E. North Avenue,
Messmer Preparatory School, 3027 N. Fratney Street,
and St. Leo’s Catholic Urban Academy, 2458 W. Locust Street,
as it constructs more relationships with youth organizations for 2005 and beyond.

Using a thorough application and recommendations from teachers, clergy, and counselors, Hoops With Hope selects 36 young people annually to enter the coed program which private donors fully subsidize each year. Its activities and philosophies were formed with the assistance of focus groups with Messmer High School seniors who offered their life experience to assist the development of Hoops With Hope programs.

The Hoops With Hope Camp is the centerpiece of the program and will be the annual starting point for all the youth we serve. It is a six-day, five-night camp held every August just before the beginning of the 8th grade academic year. The first camp will be held on August 16-21, 2005 at Camp Gray, a Catholic summer camp and retreat center in Reedsburg, WI. The camp experience will combine top-flight basketball instruction offered by Hoops With Hope Basketball Director and Board Member Joel Claassen in tandem with former professional and current collegiate athletes and coaches.

“To be part of Hoops With Hope is truly an honor,” says Claassen. “I look forward to working with the student-athletes and sharing not just the game of basketball, but most importantly, the value of hard work, the love of the game, and the life lessons it reflects.”

“The youths we are targeting are heavily influenced by the NBA and other professional sports, not necessarily by the games but by the money and celebrity associated with them,” says Hoops With Hope Board Member Frank Cumberbatch. “This program aims to bring the focus back to the positive aspects of sports; play for fun; play to develop mentally, physically and spiritually.”

Beyond the basketball, the camp offers the beauty and fun of nature that urban youth are rarely exposed to, and a faith based retreat, founded in the Jesuit and Franciscan principles that helped form the lives of many of those who founded Hoops With Hope, that allows these participants to reflect upon their own lives and discover hope in the true blessings of who they are and what their future can be when formed on compassion and solid values in a setting that respects youth of all faiths.

“Violence, illegal activity such as drugs and gambling, value of self above team are more prevalent in sports today than ever before, because the combination of spirituality and sport is the exception and not the rule,” says Cumberbatch. “This program does not intend to create a pool of athletes for the colleges or professional basketball. This program aims to create contributing citizens with Christian values.”

Hoops With Hope is not just a one-week camp. The program aims to sustain the growth of all it serves. The “Five-Point Follow Up Plan” of the Hoops for Hope program includes sustained contact through high school years with a married mentor couple, monthly team/small group reunions, and four all-camp reunions per year, all of which involve events young people love – especially surrounding the sport of basketball - and service opportunities to apply the lessons they’ve learned. Hoops for Hope will also connect youth to other organizations that support the program’s mission while building a college scholarship program to help as many of its youth as possible to achieve tangible evidence of the hope it works to engender.

“This is a different concept for helping young people,” said Hank Raymonds, Hoops With Hope Co-Chairman. “It’s the continuance of working with these young people after the camp. That's the big difference.”

“When we constructed the Hoops With Hope program, we recognized that a camp experience like what we offer is a highly unique experience, but our feedback and studies showed that a regular positive presence of caring people beyond a one-week experience can often be the difference-maker in the lives of young people,” said Jay Sorgi, President of Hoops With Hope. “That is why we created such a comprehensive follow-up program.”

Many individuals, businesses and organizations have contributed to make Hoops With Hope a reality, including its network of caring sponsors. From the sports community come contributions including an anonymous gift honoring Hank Raymonds, a gift from Ulice Sr. and Mary Payne (the parents of Ulice Payne, Jr.), a grant from the Nicholas Family Foundation, founded by former University of Wisconsin All-American Ab Nicholas, a donation from the Green Bay Packers Foundation, and an in-kind sponsorship by Bridgeman Foods’ Wendy’s restaurant locations, headed by former Milwaukee Bucks star Junior Bridgeman. Additionally, Hoops With Hope is grateful for the compassion of The Bishop’s Fund, Camp Gray, Cyganiak Planning, Linear Graphics and Time Warner Cable to assist in making this groundbreaking program happen.

"We are extremely fortunate and thrilled to have great partners in success,” says Michael Thill, Hoops With Hope Secretary and Treasurer. “They have made it possible to put on our camp and follow-up program at no cost to participants. We cannot thank our partners enough for all their generous support. We continually welcome new partners in success, who will help us build for future years and continually improve our operations to better serve youth."

Already support has come in from many in the Greater Milwaukee Community, including that of Mayor Tom Barrett.

"It's important to provide our youth with safe places to go and positive activities to do," stated Mayor Barrett. "Hoops With Hope gives youth the confidence, hope and skills needed to succeed both on and off the basketball court."

Hoops With Hope is an independent, non-profit, non-stock corporation under IRS Section 501(c)3. Financial information is available to the public upon request. For further information, or to offer a donation, call Jay Sorgi, President of Hoops With Hope at 414-526-4836.