Those Who Hope

For fifty years, the poor of Santa Rosa have been offered shelters: meals, beds, and showers, by the Sonoma Gospel Mission. As the Mission also offers a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, they are considered to be essential in the local area. Now, Buddy Grace, an ambitious developer, has come up with a plan of rejuvenating the Railroad Square community, including a full transformation with upscale appointments and trendy shops and restaurants. The only problem is that his potential investors won’t give a penny if there’s a homeless shelter in the area. Buddy does his best to convince the people running the shelter that moving would really be in their best interest, but when they resist, Buddy becomes desperate to find a way to get what he wants. The perfect opportunity pretty much falls into his lap when he learns of a lady, who considers herself to be an advocate for the homeless, who is spreading claims that Jake Dorner, the mission’s program manager, has sexually assaulted her. Jake, of course, is innocent, but that makes no difference when it comes to Buddy’s purpose; he backs the supposed victim in a lawsuit against the shelter. The publicity paints both Jake and the mission in a horrible light and creates financial panic for the shelter, as they begin to lose some of their donors, and family disaster for Jake, as his wife takes their young son and goes to stay with her mother until things die down. Jake, a former addict himself, finds himself truly struggling. Can he manage to stay clean and save his marriage? Will the truth come out and exonerate him? Will the shelter escape financial ruin or will they have to close their doors and stop their valuable work?

Those Who Hope follows the story of Jake, the mission’s program manager, Buddy, the developer trying to get them to move, and a few of the men working their way through the rehabilitation program. I can really tell that the author has done a ton of research into how rehab centers work, as well as homeless shelters. He does an excellent portrayal of the struggles the men got through on their journey towards recovery and as they work the program and twelve steps. I won’t lie and say that this book wasn’t dark, at times, because it’s only natural that it would be. The very nature of the story requires that but it is also very hopeful. One of the themes that was dominant throughout the story was leaning on your faith, even during the difficult times. The story also dealt with second chances and trying again if you fail. All in all, this was a very hopeful book that contains a lot of very positive themes and lessons for any and all readers.

A captivating read – I couldn’t put it down. The characters are so real, and multi-dimensional. In fact, at times the book is so real it is emotionally draining. There’s no cheesiness to this book, and not everyone gets to live happily ever after. A healthy tonic for people who might be tempted to believe that resolving homelessness is a straight forward task. The author writes in an earthy and captivating way. This is a book you will keep thinking, and looking forward to the next instalment.