Hope is essential to flourishing. Where hope is rising, well-being is rising. Success is rising. Even health is rising. The best part? Hope is a cognitive process – a pattern of thinking we can learn and influence.

Hope is measurable, and hope can be increased. When you combine vision with a pathway and a sense of agency, you build hope. We can directly influence the levels of hope within our communities by ensuring everyone has access to opportunities and by encouraging the patterns of thinking that create hope.

As we look to the future, hope is FAO’s guiding indicator – and our fuel. Why? Because hope is essential to a Flourishing Appalachian Ohio. We invite everyone to join us as we explore new approaches for leveraging the science of hope in our lives and the lives of our communities.

The Well-Being Toolkit

Welcome to “The Well-Being Toolkit,” a practical, research-based resource designed to help individuals, educators and community leaders weave more hope into their daily lives and work. This toolkit is grounded in more than 30 years of science showing that where hope rises, so does well-being, achievement and health.

We invite you to learn and to practice alongside us – and encourage you to share your feedback as we continue to build on this resource.

Download a PDF of the toolkit.