From Hardship to Hope: Online Resource Hub
Welcome to ‘From Hardship to Hope’! This is a remote peer-led financial wellness program that seeks to help people improve their financial situation and feel more hopeful about the future. Here you’ll find links to the resources discussed in group sessions, as well as our program calendar.
Program Calendar – December, 2022
To see the full program calendar, click here.
From Hardship to Hope Tools
This tool will allow you to discover the meaning of financial wellness by addressing financial stressors as well as your own goals and priorities. The tool is divided into 10 sections with different sets of questions. The sections include:
My Income & Ability to Meet my Needs
Tax Credits
Housing and Utilities
Food Security & Health
And more
To access the Financial Wellness Self-Assessment, please go here.
After you identify what financial wellness means to you, you’ll be able to create an action plan with this tool. This tool will allow you to identify your goals and figure out a plan to achieve them.
The tool is divided into the following sections:
Life Dream/Goal – helps you identify what truly matters to you
Financial Wellness Goal – allows you to achieve your life goal.
My Agency – helps you identify your assets and capital
Financial Wellness Barriers – enables you to identify the obstacles that may get in your way
My Pathways – helps you identify the services and supports that are best for you
Financial Wellness Action Steps – allows you to identify specific actions that you can take
To access the Financial Wellness Action Plan, please go here.
This tool consolidates different financial resources intending to provide you with some assistance in accessing the resources that you need. The navigator is composed of different categories, each with a list of resources.
The categories included are:
Financial Counseling – this category provides financial hope by providing guidance, information, tools, and education through different resources
Taxes – this category includes resources that provide tax credits and assistance for low- and middle-income individuals and families
Employment – this category has resources that facilitate getting jobs
Social Security – this category has resources that provide additional financial benefits
SSA Work Incentives – the resources in this category provide benefits and encourage employment
Health – the resources in this category provide benefits and additional aid for individuals with disabilities
Child Care – the resources in this category provide financial support, agencies and starting points, and affordable and accessible education
Food Insecurity – the resources in this category provide short- and long-term solutions through different programs
Housing – the resources in this category include financial, legal, and counseling assistance
Utilities – this category provides different assistance programs that help pay for utilities
Transportation – the resources in this category include transportation programs, discounts, and services
Debt Management/Assistance – this category aims to provide aid and counseling to manage and avoid debts
Savings & Assets – this category offers programs and incentives that promote and facilitate saving money
To access the Navigator tool, please go here.
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 1: Connection
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 2: Resilience
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 3: Empathy
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 4: Focus
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 5: Courage
To view the video accompanying the Group Session 5 meditation, please click here
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 6: Vulnerability
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 7: Flow
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 8: Braving Uncertainty
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 9: In-Session Meditation Pathways
Mindfulness Activity, Releasing Pressure:
Mindfulness Activity, Penguin Connection:
Mindfulness Activity, When Buttons are Pushed:
Mindfulness Activity, Group Session 12:
Fending Off Gremlins Worksheet
Credit and Debit Presentation Part 2
Meet the Team
Oscar Jimenez-Solomon, Program Director
Oscar is a mental health and social policy researcher committed to disrupting social and economic inequalities. He has been working for the past 15 years to develop new ways of supporting people to achieve financial and emotional wellness. His passion for this work is grounded in his personal experience with poverty and recovery.
Contact Information: oscar.jimenez-solomon@nyspi.columbia.edu; 347-978-3010
photo credentials: Sean Sime
Sean Brennan, Peer Facilitator
Sean is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Food Justice advocate and after being late life diagnosed with manic depression has used his lived experience to advance greater empathy and understanding as a Mental Health Peer Advocate. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of Brain Food Garden Project.
Contact Information: sbrennan@balticstreet.org; 718-788-6100, ext. 100
Laurie Vite, Peer Facilitator
Laurie is a Certified Peer Specialist for Baltic Street AEH. She is the Director of the Resource and Wellness Center in Sunset Park Brooklyn. As Peer Facilitator for the ‘From Hardship to Hope’ program, she hopes to spread the message that we are not alone.
Contact Information: lvite@balticstreet.org; 718-788-6100, ext. 100
Wade Cook, Peer Facilitator
Wade is a Peer Facilitator and Mindfulness Coach with a background in Art Education, HIV Advocacy, and Addiction. As a sober man in recovery with mental health challenges, his focus is to bring tools, awareness, and a sense of groundedness to people on a path of transformation.
Contact Information: Arthur.Cook@nyspi.columbia.edu
Shima Sadaghiyani, Study Staff
Contact Information: shima.sadaghiyani@nyspi.columbia.edu; 917-397-3251
