Photo courtesy of Pete Crozier
The original "I Hope" that hangs on Pete Crozier's daughters' wall.
St. Louis native Pete Crozier’s current project has personal roots. Some 15 years ago, he created a poster for his two oldest daughters that outlined 30 hopes for them.
Through his We Hope website, he decided to take the project public shortly after the November presidential election—not because of any political agenda, but to provide an optimistic antidote to the negativity that he saw on social media. Posts, videos, articles, and caustic comments were driving a wedge between lifelong friends and family members.
“It turned my stomach,” says the father of four, who now lives and works in Columbus, Ohio.
He launched the We Hope site to collect people’s hopes for the children in their lives, soliciting statements from representatives of “all races, genders, political affiliations, sexual orientations, educational backgrounds, and faiths that celebrate our similarities and minimize our differences.” To demonstrate that common ground, he asks those who share statements of hope to provide demographic data (though adding a name isn’t required).
“I hoped we would see that we all want the same thing for our kids and give us a place to start conversations,” he says.
Crozier, who also works with young people as vice president of capstone programs for Junior Achievement of Central Ohio, believes parents and kids everywhere have a lot more in common than they might first think, and he hopes his project will inspire them to reach common ground.
Crozier shared some of his favorite recent submissions on the site:
"I hope that you realize the golden rule is not about economic prosperity, but rather human flourishing and the common good."
"I hope that you experience unconditional love."
"I hope our children know they are loved, and that their love makes a difference."
"I hope you are never afraid to be yourself."
Although the We Hope website started as a passion project for Crozier, his goal is to collect messages of hope throughout next year and eventually publish those messages in a book that would be distributed to more than 60,000 elementary schools and 9,000 public libraries nationwide.
For more information, check out this video about the project, or visit the We Hope website.
