Common Hope was established by Dave and Betty Huebsch in 1986. Motivated by a desire to help the poor, Dave and Betty made the difficult decision to leave family, friends, and a peaceful lifestyle in Minnesota to see what they could offer the people of Guatemala. Their attention soon became focused on the remote village of Santiago Atitlán, where 40,000 people lived in stark poverty. When they asked parents in the village how they could best be helped, parents expressed a great yearning to educate their children so they might have a path to a better future.

Today, Common Hope serves more than 11,000 impoverished children and adults in 26 communities outside of Antigua and Guatemala City.

Mission Statement

Common Hope promotes hope and opportunity in Guatemala, partnering with children, families, and communities who want to participate in a process of development to improve their lives through education, health care, and housing.

Enduring Values

• - Maintain an environment of openness, honesty, and integrity.
• - Respect and honor the rich cultural heritage of all people.
• - Surround ourselves with dedicated people who are passionate about their mission.
• - Encourage and support each other’s personal growth and development.
• - Work as a team to create organizational and individual strength.
• - Hold one another accountable, while granting each other the trust and freedom to accomplish their mission.
• - Seek long-term progress over short-term comfort.
• - Innovate creatively, and take calculated risks to explore new development strategies.
• - Fearlessly seek the truth by listening openly and analyzing their work.
• - Be deliberate in their planning, while remaining open to grasp unexpected opportunities.
• - Eagerly adapt to the changing world, while remaining true to their core values.
• - Encourage participation by doing only that which people cannot do for themselves.
• - Work peacefully to raise public awareness of injustice in the world.
• - Use their human, financial, and physical resources wisely.
• - Have faith in the future.

Envisioned Future

• - Continually enhance their human development philosophy to become more effective.
• - Develop a dependable and broad base of financial support that enables them to reach out to more people.
• - Establish efficient support systems that allow them to expand their work.
• - Manage their growth to serve as many people as possible, while maintaining the good work that has already been established.
• - Change whenever the depth and quality of their work can be improved.
• - Share their knowledge generously, and partner with others who hold similar values.

Political Statement

To ensure the safety of its staff and the families served by Common Hope, they are not politically active in the United States or Guatemala.

There is a difference between charity and justice.  Justice is deeper.  It works toward making systemic change that eliminates the causes of poverty. Their primary work is in Guatemala, where they attack poverty at its roots without becoming politically active.  In developed countries, Common Hope educates people about their role in creating poverty, as well as their responsibility and power to eliminate it.

While they respect those who work for political justice, their role is to work from the bottom up. They believe that true development and justice primarily happen through solid personal relationships.

Their hope is that each person discovers some way to improve the world.

Spirituality Statement

Common Hope welcomes anyone willing to serve the poor, and they serve those living in poverty without regard to religion. Although Common Hope was founded on Christian ideals, they believe that people of different faith traditions can join together in service and can live their spirituality without proselytizing.

Their vision and philosophy are based on spiritual principles. They honor all beliefs that lead people to health. They embrace spiritual values such as hope, forgiveness, compassion, respect, love, service, and the pursuit of peace.

Common Hope recognizes that people, whatever their belief, are equal and deserve respect. They value the strength that diversity offers, and acknowledge that they are all connected.

If they respect those they serve, they must allow them the freedom to develop their own spirituality. They recognize that their poverty is physical, and they are often desperate for the services they provide. They recognize that their physical wealth gives them power, and it would be abusive to use this power to dictate belief.

If they respect those they serve, they acknowledge that they have gifts to share with them. Perhaps they can learn from the deep faith they have developed in facing death and hardship on a daily basis. Perhaps they can grow together in their spirituality.