Hope has a name and a face -meet Gio

When we hear a local teenager say there is "NO hope" for the future, it serves as a sobering reminder of why our mission exists. Camp Restore is a place where that despair is met with hope. And this year, hope has a name and a face: Gio.

Only weeks ago, a high school senior told us directly, “There isn’t any hope for a future here.” That weight of hopelessness often hangs heavy over the youth in our community.

We didn't know that our community Thanksgiving dinner—an evening where over 100 neighbors gathered as one family—would provide the perfect answer to that young man’s cry.

Into this room stepped Gio El-Hadi. To the world, Gio is a standout University of Michigan football player and a top NFL Draft prospect. But to our Camp Restore Family, he is something much more: a kind, authentic soul who cares deeply. He spent the evening quietly moving through the crowd, leaning in to make eye contact, making every person he spoke to feel like the only one in the room. In those small moments, he was reflecting to each person the deep value and worth God places on every individual.

After dinner, Gio disappeared into the gym to throw a football with the kids.

Soon, however, the game stopped and Gio pulled the children and young adults aside to share his own story—one marked by deep challenges and trauma. He shared that regardless of what life throws at you, it is continually relying on Jesus that provides the true hope needed to carry on through any struggle.

This spontaneous, living testimony resonated deeply. Not only were community families impacted, but our volunteers seemed just as moved. The most powerful sign of the Spirit's work? Someone approached Pastor Tim and asked if we have a church they can attend. This is why we work hard to be an epicenter of hope, resilience, and transformation wrapped in Christ’s love.