It began with just the wanting to dive into the homeless community and learn about what was going on and how they felt concerning anything and everything. I had been planning on recording my experiences and eventually writing a play or novel or filming a documentary to increase awareness about the plight of the homeless. As time progressed, more and more people heard about my weekly trips to “hang out with the homeless” and more and more people wound up falling in love with the project. Eventually I realized how much the people around me wanted to help, they just had no outlet to do it. This is where my project gained its identity and purpose.

            Well to go back to the “nature” of the project, I would define it as an outlet to efficiently direct an energy to help that has built up in students over their lives, whether it is helping the homeless or helping organizations that do various things for the community. Since “Hope in Hand” has started, it has grown from 2 people a week to 20-25 people a week, with a completely different group of 10-15 going to a different city on a different day. Hope in Hand now has official chapters in Orlando and Daytona as well as soon-to-be chapters in Gainesville, Tampa, and Jacksonville.

            When I was in Daytona this past week doing the weekly trip, I asked a homeless individual if what we did was having an effect at all. His reply was the most important and special thing you can give to people in need is hope, and that is what we offer them; hope and inspiration. The Salvation Army Shelter as well as the Homeless Coalition of Daytona Beach now have something tangible to receive donations from weekly, and I can proudly say we make things at least a little better for the people that live and work there.

            I often talked about the main bulk of my passions shifting throughout this project in that in the beginning what drove me was simply helping the homeless and giving them something to assist them. Now as the organization is growing, I find myself finding my drive and passion in helping those around me organize to help others. In other words, I find my drive and passion in the other members of Hope in Hand finding their own passion in helping others. The Hope in Hand directors and members have become a huge part of the heart and soul of Hope in Hand, and without them truly believing in the project I feel that none of this could have been possible. They organized trips, inspired others to mingle during the trips, and always brought a positive attitude that made the trip worthwhile for everyone.

If you truly want to inspire, the only thing stopping you is intimidation: intimidation from the size of your goal, intimidation from those standing in your way, and intimidation from self-consciousness. What is stopping people from changing the world is inspiration, and the most important thing I have learned is that I can change the world with my hands, and you can change it with yours.

                                                                                                -Tarek Aly

                                                                                                  President/Founder

                                                                                                  4/15/2007