Why We're Here

Hoya Outreach Programs and Education (HOPE) was founded in 1999 by then-Georgetown freshman Joe Truglio. Joe created HOPE to provide Georgetown students with opportunities for community service without semester-long committment, and to reach out to the homeless community of Washington, D.C.

Several years later, HOPE has grown into a large organization focused on outreach and education spanning a range of social justice issues. HOPE is unique at Georgetown as an organization that provides opportunities for community involvement for everyone in the university community without any semester committments or project requirements. Our projects and programs are open to everyone, and the HOPE Board strives to make it easy for busy students to become involved in service through 14 different weekly and monthly projects. Additionally, HOPE aims to raise awareness of poverty, hunger, and homelessness. We work to educate ourselves and our peers through a variety of programs, events, and awareness campaigns.

Through our service and outreach programs, we seek to develop relationships with and provide resources to those in need in our greater community, and to educate those we serve with useful, life-building skills. Through outreach and awareness campagins, we aspire to share the idea that service and community involvement are not only acts of necessity, but are also acts of humanity and acts of love.

HOPE exists thanks to the support of Georgetown University and the Georgetown Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching, and Service, and the corporations that donate to our programs, including Students of Georgetown, Inc. (The Corp) and Marriott Dining.

Most importantly, however, Hoya Outreach Programs and Education exists because of the dedication of all of the students who organize and participate in our programs.