Dover Hope Zone's 'Hope Streets' summer events to promote wellness, community safety

The Hope Zone Commission has released its schedule of events for Dover.

DOVER — The Dover Hope Zone has kicked off a series of free summer events aimed at promoting fitness, wellness, and community engagement among local children and families through its new initiative, “Hope Streets.”

Designed as a community violence prevention program, Hope Streets transforms neighborhood parks and select streets—closed temporarily to traffic—into safe, active spaces where kids can play and families can gather.

The program also provides nutritious meals and snacks, play equipment, and a variety of structured activities in an effort to encourage healthy living and community connection.

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Sponsored by Nemours Children’s Health, Hope Streets is made possible through collaboration with a wide range of local partners, including community centers, churches, youth-serving organizations, healthcare providers, schools, and local businesses.

Together, they offer services such as health screenings, water stations, music, EMT support, and volunteer-led activities.

Organizers aim to create opportunities for kids to be active and safe while bringing resources directly to neighborhoods that need them most.

Schedule for Hope Streets

The Dover Hope Zone is part of an interdisciplinary justice reinvestment initiative led by The Hope Commission, in partnership with the Wesley College of Health & Behavioral Sciences and Delaware State University.

While Hope Streets focuses on community wellness, the broader initiative provides critical reentry services for justice-involved individuals living in the 19901 and 19904 zip codes.

The Hope Commission, known as Delaware’s leading correctional reentry program, offers a comprehensive suite of services for high-risk men returning from incarceration.

Programs include cognitive-behavioral therapy, vocational training, educational support, behavioral health services, and family reunification—efforts aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety.

The Hope Commission also plays a key role in the state’s Reentry Court, a multi-agency initiative that coordinates services from the Department of Correction, Department of Health and Social Services, Superior Court, and other partners under one roof.