After a crazy couple of years, heading into a new year certainly brings a renewed sense of hope. More than ever, it is an important time to recognize we are all one community, support those who need it most, and find ways to give back and make a positive impact.

This is an important mission for TCLers year-round, and I wanted to put the spotlight on just one of the incredible organizations we’ve had the privilege of working with.

Hope Center for the Arts

Hope Center for the Arts (or HOPE) has been serving adults with disabilities through the use of the arts for over 40 years. Their students have intellectual and physical disabilities that limit their ability to communicate and interact with others. 

HOPE provides students with an outlet and teaches them the skills to communicate using the arts, including music, painting, dance, and crafts, among many other skills and services to support and enrich their lives. 

With the help of HOPE, many students have not only learned skills to interact with others, but have the opportunity to take pride in their paintings and sculptures that have been showcased in arts shows throughout California.

The Hope Impact

I have been fortunate enough to witness the amazing impact HOPE has had on their students firsthand. My brother Frankie, who has Down Syndrome, has been a student there for nearly 30 years!

Frankie has always loved music and entertaining, so attending HOPE and learning from their wonderful instructors has been a delight for him. When he gets home, he loves to share what he did and enjoys talking about his teachers. Witnessing the happiness the school brings to him and the other students is an absolute joy.

With the challenges brought on by COVID-19, we became very worried about Frankie’s mental well-being. At the onset of the pandemic, it was hard for him to understand why he could not continue his normal school routine and it was heartbreaking for us as family to try and explain.

Thankfully, HOPE quickly transformed the magic they do in-person into a virtual program allowing Frankie and many others the opportunity to continue learning and interacting with others.  Now that we are slowly moving back to normalcy, HOPE is also transitioning back to in-person instruction and the students, including Frankie, could not be happier!

The transition to a virtual format for HOPE and now back to in-person, while successful, has been a struggle financially. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, HOPE relies heavily on the generous donations of the community to continue to provide the services these students need. Like many non-profit organizations, donations during COVID have dipped.

TCL Cares

Several years ago, the HOPE story was brought to TCL’s leadership team with the simple request to donate a TV for their Holiday Show silent auction. HOPE’s annual Holiday Show has been one of the highlights for their students year after year. It is a time where these special students can showcase the new skills they had been working on all year and a time to let their awesome personalities shine! The event features several musical numbers and (my favorite) some very entertaining comical skits.

In typical TCL fashion, we not only donated TVs, but also became an official sponsor and have not looked back since! 

This year is no different. We’re proud to support HOPE'S 33rd Annual Holiday Show which promises to be one of its most entertaining yet! This year’s show is directed by Danielle Tsujino, one of HOPE'S performing arts instructors, so it’s sure to showcase incredible Artists; acting, singing, playing musical instruments, and much more! What’s also exciting this year is that the show is happening virtually, so it’s even easier to join the fun!

Please help support the Artists by joining us for the HOPE Holiday Show on Zoom, Friday, December 17th at 7:00 PM PST. Click the following link to register and watch LIVE: go.tcl.com/HOPEHoliday

Supporting an organization that helps bring smiles to the innocent faces of HOPE students, fell right in line with our TCL Cares initiative and we could not be more honored to be a part of it. We hope you can become a part of it too.

How You Can Get Inolved

To learn more about Hope Center for the Arts and to find ways you can help, we invite you to follow them online at Hope4arts.org.