Located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill., the complex is a foster care and adoption service that provides a supportive environment for children the foster service system has left behind, families who have fostered and adopted these children, and senior citizen-volunteers. Eheart has envisioned and created a miracle in establishing continuity, stability, and, above all, hope in the disrupted and unsettled lives of scores of foster children. You have these throw-away children that probably won't be adopted and aren't going to go home. You also have foster and adoptive parents that need extra support to care for these special children and seniors challenged by loneliness and fixed incomes. One parent in each family receives a salary and stays at home to care for and nurture the children.
Parents are married or single and represent diverse races and backgrounds.
They commit to life-long parenting and to raising up to four Hope children. Some parents come to Hope Meadows with their own natural or adopted or foster children, and the community contains a mix of children, with and without special needs. In return, they volunteer six hours each week as tutors, crossing guards, and in other roles. The creation of the intergenerational neighborhood grew out of Eheart's experiences in child development. She and a colleague had conducted research regarding foster children and felt frustrated when foster parenting did not work out because the children had special needs.