The story behind the hope

Be Peace – Be Hope is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people feel safe, valued, confident, connected, compassionate, and empowered to shape a more hopeful future.

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Watercolor illustration of a forest of trees, each with visible roots, growing up from a single acorn

Who we are

Watercolor illustration from the Be Peace – Be Hope story

A decade of practice

Since 2015, we have worked alongside students, families, educators, and community partners to create meaningful learning experiences that strengthen emotional well-being, resilience, creativity, essential life skills, a sense of belonging, and the confidence to contribute.

Communities of care

Together, we are building communities where young people do not simply learn how to succeed, but also how to care, connect, contribute, and create meaningful change.

Hope, carried forward

Because when young people feel seen, supported, connected, and empowered, hope becomes something they can carry forward, and the future becomes brighter for them and for all of us.

The people

Be Peace – Be Hope is led and supported by an international team of educators, therapists, mindfulness experts, artists, social workers, neuroscientists, and community advocates, with decades of combined experience and a board drawn from education, healthcare, the arts, and business.

Educators
Therapists
Artists
Neuroscientists

Mindfulness experts
Social workers
Community advocates

How the work grew

What began as one after-school program gradually grew into a broader school-wide model. Students participated in creative and project-based experiences, educators received tools to support well-being and resilience, and families and community partners became part of a larger circle of care.

Over the years, the vision continued to expand:

Individual classrooms Schools

Houston communities International collaborations

In-person programs New digital learning experiences

Yet the heart of the work has remained the same.

What young people are carrying

Today's students are navigating a growing number of challenges that can leave many feeling hurt, overwhelmed, isolated, or unequipped to cope.

Watercolor illustration of a child sitting alone, lost in thought

Hardships at home

For some, these challenges are connected to hardships at home, including limited resources, lack of support, instability, isolation, or abuse. For others, the pain may be less visible.

Watercolor illustration of a child with oversized sunglasses hiding their eyes, boxed in by geometric lines

Anxiety, grief, social pressure, cyberbullying, loneliness, academic stress

Young people from all backgrounds can struggle silently with anxiety, grief, social pressure, cyberbullying, loneliness, academic stress, questions of identity, family conflict, or the emotional impact of growing up in a fast-moving digital world.

Watercolor illustration of a small figure standing beneath a great tree, a glowing seed of light at its roots

Bullying, racial inequities, academic pressure

At school, students may also face bullying, racial inequities, academic pressure, structural violence, disconnection, or exposure to substance use and addiction. Without the right support and essential life skills, these experiences can deeply affect their emotional well-being, relationships, confidence, sense of belonging, and ability to engage in learning.

Be Peace – Be Hope was created in response to this need: to provide young people with safe, meaningful learning experiences that help them better understand themselves, navigate challenges, build resilience, develop healthy relationships, discover their strengths, and recognize their ability to contribute.

See how we help

Students gathered in a circle on the school lawn

Where hope began

Be Peace – Be Hope began in Houston in 2015 with a simple but deeply human question:

What becomes possible when young people are given a safe space to be seen, heard, understood, and encouraged to believe in their own potential?

Founded by Karine Parker with the support of Noël Bezette-Flores, the initiative first took shape through an after-school program serving students in Title I schools. From the beginning, the work was rooted in listening, to the experiences of young people, to the challenges they were carrying, and to the hopes they held for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Watercolor illustration of an acorn with colored raindrops falling around it

Brought together

The artsEmotional learningDialogueMindfulnessNeuroscienceProject-based experiencesService

With the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts as a founding partner, Be the Peace – Be the Hope, now known as Be Peace – Be Hope, brought together the arts, emotional learning, dialogue, mindfulness, neuroscience, project-based experiences, and service.

Through these approaches, students were invited not only to express what they were experiencing, but also to develop practical tools for emotional regulation, confidence, communication, problem-solving, empathy, collaboration, and purposeful action.

What we believe

At the heart of our work is a simple belief: every young person carries within them extraordinary potential, a seed of hope. When that seed is nurtured through safety, connection, creativity, education, encouragement, and meaningful opportunities to contribute, it can grow into confidence, compassion, resilience, leadership, and action, for themselves, for others, and for their communities.

Safe and valued

A young person feels seen, heard, and appreciated — the seed of hope nurtured through safety, connection, creativity, education, and encouragement.

Confident

Safety becomes self-worth, and self-worth becomes confidence, compassion, and resilience.

In action

Confidence becomes the will to lead and contribute — meaningful opportunities that grow into leadership and action.

In solidarity

Action reaches outward, for themselves, for others, and for their communities — to their school, their community, and children a world away.

One seed, tended, becomes a forest.

Our Programs

Young People

Schools & Educators

Illustration representing schools and educators

Families & Caregivers

Illustration representing families and caregivers

Community Organizations

Ten years, measured.

See the full impact

10,000+

Students served

70+ schools · 1,000+ teachers and parents · Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, with international missions beyond.

Up to 80%

Increase in resilience

Over 90% of students reported feeling more hopeful · Up to 60% decrease in anxiety and depression.

Recognized

For our impact

By HISD with the Jean Davis Myers Volunteer Service Award, featured on CBS Chicken Soup for the Soul's Hidden Heroes, and published by Emerald Publishing.

Partners

The work has never happened alone. School districts, universities, health and research institutions, Rotary clubs, and community organizations across Texas, France, and beyond make it possible.

See our partners