The Austin HOPE Center, a partnership between Stone Community Development (Stone CDC) and Lurie Children’s Hospital, is shaping up to be a lively hub for youth and families in the Austin neighborhood.
Expected to be completed in 2026, it will bring together pediatric care, behavioral health services and community programs all in one place, along with spaces for youth development, local organizations and outdoor programming.
Austin resident Aisha Oliver was hired as the community engagement specialist for the center to strengthen relationships between Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Austin neighborhood, particularly among Black residents.
“I ultimately came in and created a community engagement strategy and we worked from there,” Oliver said. “The focus was not just on hiring someone to carry out community engagement; they really wanted someone who was rooted in the community, someone who could help build new relationships while also deepening the existing connections the hospital already had in the Austin neighborhood.”
The project began in spring 2023, when architecture firms were selected to design the new facility. In summer 2024, the groundbreaking ceremony was held. Construction is expected to continue through 2026, with the anticipated opening next summer.
Oliver facilitated the connection between Lurie Children’s Hospital and Stone CDC, having already worked with Stone CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic. She met Stone CDC’s CEO, Pastor Contrell Jenkins, who sought her guidance in maximizing programs while directly benefiting the neighborhood.
Nearly a year later, Oliver brought Stone CDC and Lurie Children’s Hospital together after learning Stone CDC’s goal of using its space as a flexible hub for children and families.
Upon joining, Oliver conducted a thorough review of Lurie Children’s departments and programs to identify existing ties to Austin and opportunities for meaningful community engagement.
Said Jenkins: “We have been running programs focused on youth development, working with children in after-school and summer programs, teaching dance, theater, music and art. Through these programs, we have gained a deep understanding of the children’s needs. As a result, we began seeking mental and behavioral health services, which led us to partner with Lurie Children’s Hospital to bring these programs and access to quality healthcare to the Austin community.”
Mary Kate Daly, Lurie Children’s chief of Community Health, appreciates Oliver’s deep impact with the Austin HOPE Center.
“At Lurie Children’s, we care for many patients from the Austin community and we certainly have many employees who live there. However, we don’t have the same deep roots in the neighborhood, so we really rely on Aisha to guide us in community engagement. She is a true expert,” Daly said.
When asked how Lurie Children’s Hospital will balance clinical care with community-focused activities at the Austin HOPE Center, Daly emphasized that the center’s layout separates by floor clinical care from community-focused programs. The second floor is dedicated to patients and families receiving physical and behavioral health services, including asthma care, preventive cardiology, adolescent medicine and sickle cell treatment, with offices and group therapy rooms for mental and behavioral health.
The first floor is designed for community health programming, featuring a large conference room for training, educational sessions, and group activities that address the specific healthcare needs and interests of the neighborhood.
Jenkins said that youth played a key role in developing the name of the Austin Hope Center.
“So these are the four pillars of healing. H is for Healing, O is for Opportunity, P is for Partnership, and E is for Equity. This is what’s going to transpire. This is what drives the programs, the services, the people, the community. Everything is built on these pillars — they are core to what’s going to happen. From this space comes healing and opportunity,” Jenkins said.
Oliver’s goal is to ensure that all of her work reflects the needs and voices of the neighborhood and its residents. She views community not as a place to simply live in, but as something that must be actively built.
“Every aspect of the Austin HOPE Center was built around the existing needs of the neighborhood, a focus I have been engaged in. Much of the necessary work was already underway even before [Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital] became involved, so being brought onto the team was an added bonus. I was then able to show them how to recognize and build upon what already existed in the neighborhood,” Oliver said.
