PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The HOPE Foundation, or Hospitality On Purpose Everyday, is a Camden, New Jersey-based nonprofit founded by three brothers who were inspired after the passing of their mother, Hope Naomi Brown.
“Growing up in Camden, my mother never made more than $10 an hour, but she was the person that people went to. She was a one-stop shop,” said Preston Brown, who serves as the HOPE Foundation’s executive director. “All the work that we’ve done with youth is simply what we experienced as a family.”
Brown is especially dedicated to seeing the youth he works with thrive in sports. Having coached college football at Temple, the University of Maryland and Delaware State, Brown now supports high school athletes with recruitment, and he doesn’t take his mentorship of underserved kids lightly.
“I had a young brother who was murdered. My sister, she had a baby as a teenager. My mother struggled with drug addiction throughout her life. As we spread the wings of the HOPE Foundation, we’re very intentional about meeting the demands of the communities who are dealing with these same issues.”
Brown said all kids deserve a chance to excel — though he was given a dark forecast by a teacher when he was younger.
“My sixth-grade teacher told me that I’ll be dead or in jail before I was 18,” he recalled. “I was 11 years old at that time, and on that day, I left the school in handcuffs because I kicked over a desk out of frustration and I was upset.”
Through HOPE, Brown now helps champion the growth and well-being of youth and young adults, especially those who are adjudicated or at risk, by guiding them through a transformative journey of healing, perseverance and empowerment. It’s also been his personal mission to disappoint that teacher.
“We recently won two RFP grants with the Camden County Youth Juvenile Justice Commission, awarding up to $240,000 to provide mentorship for court-involved youth, ages 10 to 24, both on the preventative side and on the dispositional side,” he said.
During Black History Month, KYW Newsradio’s GameChangers honors individuals or organizations that have made a significant, positive impact in communities of color in the greater Philadelphia region. View the 2025 honorees here.