Through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, she learned that it might be possible to buy the decommissioned Chanute Air Force Base. Still, it took two years and a fax from President Clinton to finalize the deal. The first families moved in during May 1994, and the first foster child arrived that September. A year later Hope established the senior volunteer program, and in 1996 the organization began taking children on vacation adventures to Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and other destinations. That same year, Eheart's program had begun to generate considerable media interest.
People are hungry for solutions.
National interest in extending the success of Generations of Hope led to a Ronald McDonald House Charities grant in 1997 to explore how to duplicate the organization's work. Also in 1997, the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois launched the Hope for the Children Research and Policy Program. It has since developed policy briefings for state and federal legislators, presented programs at conferences around the globe, created working papers on adoption and intergenerational communities, and held a symposium on Eheart's model. It's a phenomenal opportunity for student learning. A future issue for study is the retirement revolution, as the large Baby Boom generation begins to retire.