November 29, 2022 | #GivingTuesday
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About Us
- MISSION
Hope Served's mission is to come alongside individuals with disabilities and their local communities as they co-create revolutionary and sustainable opportunities for authentic participation in all aspects of life.
Our Story
As a mother to nine children, most of whom were teens and young adults with challenges including autism, blindness, and intellectual disabilities, Kelly Harnish was confronted by the dismal statistics surrounding employment of adults affected by disabilities. As she furthered her research, she was dumbfounded by the scarcity of effective services that proactively supported career development, meaningful employment, access to reliable transportation, and the shortage of safe, supported, sustainable, low-income housing options for young adults with disabilities. She was grieved as her friends grappled with gut wrenching decisions that too often required them to seek care for their adult children far from home—resulting in distant proximity from their families and estrangement from meaningful, life-long relationships that had grown within their home-town communities. She knew that the odds had to change for her aging children and their peers, and so she began to dream.
Ultimately, Hope Served was founded in 2021 in close consultation with Uniquely the Same, another non-profit that offered relevant expertise and shared our vision for the future. Built for sustainability and based upon the American free enterprise system, Hope Served was organized to complement existing community resources, to promote meaningful and supportive relationships among members of all abilities within their local communities, and to create revolutionary and sustainable opportunities for authentic participation in all aspects of life. Hope Served engages with adults affected by disability as they proactively set a course for their futures, genuinely contribute and network within their local communities, gain hard and soft career skills, and work towards permanent housing.
Our Staff
With over 30 years of experience in human services, housing, and disability ministry, Steve Schwartz is a proven leader in the faith-based, non-profit sector. As the Executive Director of Hope Served, Steve leads the organization’s efforts to support individuals with disabilities and their communities.
Steve’s passion for serving those facing challenging circumstances stems from his upbringing in a missionary household (he was born on the mission field in Zambia) and his experiences at Paxton Ministries, a live-in community focused on housing and disability ministry in Harrisburg. While living there, Steve learned to appreciate the beauty of diversity, comparing it to a bouquet where each flower contributes to its overall appeal.
Throughout his career, Steve has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills in program design and oversight, human resources management, strategic planning, facility management, fiscal oversight, and board development. He has successfully led staff growth and development and completed a comprehensive expansion campaign, overseeing the renovation of two existing properties and the acquisition of new properties for the construction of three new program buildings.
Steve’s expertise also extends to fund development, campaign planning/implementation, grant writing, and public relations, having worked with donors, foundations, corporate sponsors, and media. His accomplishments in these areas include helping lead teams that won the best Branding Identity/Unique Marketing Campaign at both the 2019 and 2021 Central Penn Business Journal Nonprofit Innovation Awards.
In addition to his professional achievements, Steve is an aspiring songwriter whose song “A Home for the Holidays” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2023 Central Pennsylvania Music Awards. He also enjoys running, music, comedy, baseball, reading, participating in his church, and spending time with his family and friends.
Steve has a heart-felt connection to the Manheim community, having grown up in East Hempfield Township and cherishing childhood memories of visits to his grandparent’s farm on Hossler Road just outside of town. In fact, both his wife and mother are graduates of Manheim Central High School.
As Executive Director of Hope Served, Steve is committed to providing an ecosystem in which people with disabilities can find and achieve their own solutions with appropriate levels of infrastructure and support. He believes that this approach will not only benefit individuals with unique challenges but also contribute to the betterment of the entire local community. As Hope Served looks towards the future, we are thrilled to have Steve on board.
Rachelle Miller is a trained Marriage and Family Therapist residing in Lititz, Pennsylvania. With a passion for creativity and a keen eye for detail, Rachelle has demonstrated herself as a talented professional.
Rachelle brings her organizational skills and attention to detail to fill a much needed role as part time Administrative Assistant at Hope Served. She is the primary office and coordination support to Board President Kelly Harnish as well as providing financial legwork for Treasurer Adam Bonano.
Rachelle’s journey to Hope Served goes far back to before her birth, when our Board President was part of a youth group led by Rachelle’s parents. Over her lifetime, Rachelle grew a passion for psychology and counseling, which she pursued by receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Messiah College, as well as, her Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Evangelical Theological School.
Most recently, Rachelle has been part of the leadership team for her Adult Bible Fellowship Class at Calvary Church. As the events coordinator, she communicated through email, phone, text and social media to keep those involved informed. We are excited she is bringing those skills to our network of people.
In addition to her church involvement at Calvary, she has acted as a Short Term Missionary at Joni and Friends Family Retreats. She draws inspiration from God’s creation around her, as well as from the natural beauty of her hometown of Lititz.
We are thrilled to have Rachelle’s listening demeanor, critical thinking and compassionate care as part of our team at Hope Served. She is the person who will most often answer your phone calls, emails or other social media inquiries to our office. When you interact with her, we think you will be as excited about her as we are.
Our Board
God has created all of us with this intrinsic desire to live a purposeful life and He has given us the capacity to do that, no matter what that capacity is.
Kelly Harnish graduated in 1992 from Millersville University with a bachelor’s degree in social work, followed by a master’s degree in the same field from Marywood College, now Marywood University, in 1995. She has more than twenty years of experience in mental health and has worked professionally in the field of foster care and adoption. Kelly has served as an adjunct professor of social work at both Lancaster Bible College and Messiah College. Prior to the adoptions of six of her children, Kelly served as Community Life Director at a local Brethren in Christ Church and completed all core courses, as she took steps toward the denomination’s credentialing process. In 2014, Kelly’s focus turned to caring for the needs of her then newly adopted children.
Kelly and her husband, Dale, are committed members of Manheim Brethren in Christ Church and devoted parents to nine children. Most of their children entered the family through international adoption, many at older ages and with challenges including autism, intellectual disabilities, and blindness. Kelly has learned first-hand what it means to traverse complex disability-related social services, navigate educational supports, and address the mental health needs of children who come from hard places. Her faith has been strengthened as she has experienced God’s goodness during challenging circumstances, and she has witnessed His redemptive power of creating beauty from ashes. In recent years Kelly’s attention has turned to the field of disability, and she has become passionate about creating opportunities for people of all abilities to interact with one another in ways that build stronger, healthier, communities where the inherent value and dignity of life is celebrated and human needs for belonging are met.
Cal is the President and one of the three Founding Board Members of Uniquely the Same, Inc., a non-profit organization in western Pennsylvania. For 20 years, Cal worked for Oracle and EMC Corporations in various Product Management and Technical Sales roles in Northern Virginia.
Recently, Cal was the Ministry Assistant at New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Monroeville, PA. Before that, he was a Master of Divinity student at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Orlando, Florida. He is an inactive ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. Cal works closely with Young Life, Joni and Friends, and various non-faith-based organizations in western PA. Cal and his wife are the Pittsburgh Chair Corps representatives for Joni and Friends, International. Cal is married with three children.
Cal is recognized as one of Western Pennsylvania’s influencers concerning inclusion and the celebration of those affected by disability in faith communities. Cal has a heart for teaching the amazingly progressive approach to disability that is written in the Hebrew scriptures and Christian Bible, particularly in the life of Jesus.
Cal’s fundamental teaching is that inclusion and welcoming are NOT the highest calling, they fall short of the higher principles demonstrated in the life of Jesus. Jesus celebrated, respected, and cared about those affected by disability. All people are made in God’s image and are therefore created for purpose, with value and love, and worthy of celebration. The greatest need of people affected by disability is not mercy or pity, but belonging.
Ida is a married mother of three sons who has spent most of her extensive professional career working in the faith-based non-profit health care industry in Illinois. There, she held a variety of progressive management roles for more than thirty years.
In her tenure, Ida participated as a RISEN mentor (Reinvesting Spirituality and Ethics in Our Networks) for eleven years. RISEN is a nationally recognized program of applied spirituality for health care organizations.
Ida is also an educator, author, and public speaker, presenting seminars nationally related to compliance issues and coding diagnoses and procedures, as well as teaching college-level courses related to the same.
Ida is passionate about the mission and vision of Hope Served and is enthusiastic about coming alongside individuals and families with disabilities and their local communities to establish reciprocal authentic relationships and replicable and sustainable solutions for the enrichment of all.
Ida is currently Director of Operations for Uniquely the Same, Inc., serving as one of the founding Board members there.
Adam Bonanno is Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President at Bryn Mawr Trust (BMT). He is responsible for BMT’s technology strategy, operations, security, analytics, and project management. Adam has over twenty years of experience leading digital transformation across all aspects of technology including strategy, development, integration, cybersecurity, governance, data sciences, and predictive analytics. Most recently, Mr. Bonanno was Chief Data Officer and the Innovation & Optimization Senior Vice President at BB&T, now Truist. Previously he was the Chief Information Officer and CTO at Susquehanna Bank. Before working in the financial services industry, he worked in the aerospace and defense industry for Perspecta, as their Chief Information Security Officer and for Lockheed Martin in systems architecture and information security leadership roles.
Adam earned a Master of Science in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science, also in computer science, from Millersville University. He also earned his CIO Leadership certificate from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and an Information Systems Security Architecture Professional (ISSAP).
Rich Pavlik
BOARD MEMBER
Local entrepreneur, Rich Pavlik, provides valuable, frank, and insightful advisement as a founding member of Hope Served’s board of directors. Rich is the force behind newly founded Blind Bean Roasters, a premium coffee roasting business that Rich is developing along with his wife, Jayne. Rich roasts ninety percent of Blind Bean’s coffee and is skilled in the use of assistive technology, which he uses to schedule orders and keep important financial records. Rich is not new to entrepreneurship, as for many years he served as the general manager for Pavlik’s Carpet Cleaning, all while working from home and balancing the responsibilities of raising his and Jayne’s five children.
Since his diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa in 1988, Rich has not missed a beat. He encourages everyone with a disability to set goals, achieve their dreams, and live fulfilling lives. Rich is an active member of his community and a person of faith. He is serving his second term as President of the Board for Disability Empowerment Center (DEC), a local non-profit. He is also a Manheim Lion’s Club member and acts as the Program Chair for Professional Referral Exchange, Central Lancaster County Chapter, a local business networking group.
In Remembrance
Dan Stroup
1958-2022
Dan Stroup was a founding member of the Hope Served Board of Directors. At the time of his death, Dan was the Executive Director of Disability Empowerment Center (DEC), Lancaster, PA, a Center for Independent Living (CIL). He was an active member of his church and the Hempfield Area Lions Club. He brought a wealth of knowledge with him, along with a great sense of humor, boundless energy, and vast experience in launching and implementing creative, progressive programs for individuals with disabilities. Dan’s valued contributions and commitment to the establishment of Hope Served will not be forgotten.
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ABOUT US
Hope Served's mission is to come alongside individuals with disabilities and their local communities as they co-create revolutionary and sustainable opportunities for authentic participation in all aspects of life.
CONNECT
- (717) 347-9785
- info@hopeserved.org
- Hope Served - Copyright 2022