Two important notices from JustHope

Final Letter, April 2026: With Gratitude from JustHope as We Close

Update January 2026: JustHope Update

JustHope Update

Dear Friends of JustHope,

 

Over the past few years JustHope activities have been in transition. During 2025, several JustHope partners visited Chacraseca, Nicaragua to continue our collaboration.  We celebrate that we saw continuing success and growth of the microcredit women’s groups, ongoing commitment of the Stitching Hope women; and impressive progress of the scholarship students!  Clearly, JustHope continued to generate creative blessing in 2025.

 

The biggest change we now face is one we’ve been working toward for years - the transition from being a North American based non-profit to becoming a truly local Nicaraguan organization led by Nicaraguans!  This transition includes endings and beginnings, with reasons to celebrate and also to grieve. The Nicaraguan political system and international relations with the U.S. government have continued to deteriorate, making travel and organizational partnership more difficult. Although we have generous and faithful donors who continue to share financial resources, our mission and model must adapt to the changing context on the ground.  Therefore, we will be closing down the Tulsa-based operations by July 1, 2026 and transitioning operational and administrative leadership to the new independent organization established by the women who have been leading JustHope’s micro-credit program for the last 17 years.

 

These amazing women have been in the complex and rigorous process of legalizing their own indigenous organization for over two years.  And have continued to embody stubborn hope in the face of numerous road-blocks!  Now they are ready to take on the hard work of not only managing their highly successful microcredit program, but also supervising the scholarship programs they are inheriting, managing the 8 acers that served as the model farm, welcoming friends and groups from the US, and pursuing other ideas and projects toward the dream of a thriving Chacraseca!

        

As part of the legal transition from being US based to being Nicaraguan based, we will be transferring all donated project funds to this new Nicaraguan-led organization.  We ask you to please continue your financial support of JustHope through June of 2026 to make it

possible for us to complete the legal and ethical obligations in both countries to make this transition successful.  Beyond June, the new leaders in Chacraseca will treasure your ongoing support.  We will provide more information in the Spring about the ways you can continue your support.

 

Leslie Penrose wrote these words that appeared on the JustHope website for years:

 

“JustHope’s mission is to create long-term global partnerships between Nicaraguan

and U.S. communities in order to combat extreme poverty and increase global understanding.

By engaging one another in cultural exchanges, cooperative learning, mutual dialogue, and sharing resources, we work collaboratively to develop local leadership, empower self–determination, and embody our core values of collaboration, solidarity, mutuality, and sustainability.

 

    Indeed, across the past 19 years, JustHope has lived out its mission.  Together with all of you, we have coordinated long-term partnerships that have resulted in lifle-changing cultural encounters and will continue to develop in new ways going forward.  And hrough our programs in agriculture, health, education, and social enterprise we have made a significant contribution to the present and future well being of people who live in Chacraseca and La Flor. We celebrate the rich relationships and sacred encounters we have shared in both countries, and look forward to watching how the work we started grows and develops in the hands of new indigenous leaders.

 

    THANK YOU for your part in JustHope’s story!  We hope friends of JustHope will continue to form teams and travel to Nicaragua in future years.  If you have questions or want to discuss these changes, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our board members. (listed below).  We will update you again in the Spring as the transition progresses.  In the meantime, please continue to share generously as you are able. Your donations are still changing lives!

 

With Sincere Joy and Hope,

 

 

Kathy McCallie,                                                         Leslie Penrose                                    

Board President                                                          Founder of JustHope and Board Secretary

Kathy.mccallie@ptstulsa.edu                                     Revlesliepen@gmail.com

           

Michael Quintin                                                          Lynne Bradley

Board Treasurer                                                          Board Director

T150scouter@gmail.com                                           lbradley93168@gmail.com

 
 
 
Chacraseca
Concrete and cinder-block building under construction with a few workers and a pile of dirt in front

Thanks to perseverance, prayer and a partnership between JustHope and the Northeast Ohio-based Hands United in Hope & Love, a joint ministry of St. John of the Cross and St. Mary Parishes, people in a remote area of Chacraseca, Nicaragua, who once worshiped in a makeshift sanctuary will soon gather in a permanent chapel.

JustHope is pleased to report that construction of the Chapel of the Divine Child is in-progress. In light of Nicaragua's ongoing civil unrest, the project demonstrates how collaboration, based on trust and mutual interest can accomplish great work. Below is a summary from our partner in this endeavor:

The Chapel of the Divine Child sits on property that a local man, Roger Cortez, donated several years ago so people in the Mojón Sur 1 sector who found it difficult to travel more than an hour by foot to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish could have a permanent worship space close enough to their homes to attend masses regularly. The local pastor, Padre Tomás, dedicated the property to that purpose.

Padre Tomás told us about the property in early 2016, and during a partnership visit a year later we organized a Bible study there. We were overwhelmed by the local community’s devotion to God and to their church.

As we sang and prayed together under the shade of the makeshift sticks and tarps that they called “church,” we came to a clear understanding that “church” is truly defined by the people and not so much by the building. Still, we all came away convinced to help the community any way we could to provide a more suitable permanent worship space.

Not long after he dedicated the property, Padre Tomás was transferred to a parish in León and Padre Harold took over at Sacred Heart of Jesus. We approached both of them with the idea of building a chapel, and they were tremendously supportive.

And so, with generous financial support from members of our home parishes in suburban Cleveland, concrete block walls and a solid roof — not sticks and tarps — provide shelter and a permanent place for the local community to gather for worship.

- Dale George, Hands United in Hope & Love

JustHope
2900 S. Harvard Ave., Tulsa OK 74114
office@justhope.org
918-932-3209

© JustHope, Inc.