PLATTSBURGH — The North Country Mission of Hope looks inward to assess what it has been, where it is and what it will become.
“2026 is going to be a year where we’re still kind of an investigating kind of re-envisioning where we are with our mission and what we’re being called to because of the changes that are happening in Nicaragua and the government kind of program to rid Nicaragua of not-for-profits,” Deacon James Carlin, executive director, said.
“They are trying to make the people less dependent upon non-for-profits for their help and more depended on the government for their help. The continued their campaign to get rid of most of the NGOs, and we continue to hang on by the grace of God and the hard work of two administrators down there. But it’s getting increasingly difficult.
“The board here in Plattsburgh has decided it’s time for us to evaluate what is the best course of action as we move forward that we can best help them to self-sufficiency and still honor the commitment that we made to them. 2026, hopefully there will be some additional programs that we can begin to fund that will help them toward some aspects of self-sufficiency in Nicaragua, but we expect to be able to flesh those out and understand the long term implications will more impactful in 2027, I believe.”
MOH’s last trip to Nicaragua was in February 2018.
“From the onset of the Mission of Hope, it was always a goal to educate and empower Nicaraguans for self-sufficiency,” Sister Debbie Blow, OP, executive director emerita, said. “That was put to the test drastically and immediately when we were no longer able to go because of the sociopolitical atmosphere there. So it’s been almost eight years, eight years next month, since we’ve been able to bring a group. and in that time, Mauricio Flores and Magaly Velasquez have done a remarkable job in maintaining the presence of the mission and what our goals were and who we serve.
“It’s really a testament not only to the outset of the mission’s goal to assist them in being self-sufficient, but also to the quality of the people that we have working for us for the mission in Nicaragua. Because they’re all Nicaraguans, and I think that is also a strength for us and maybe one of those blessings that has allowed us to continue as long as we have while thousands of other NGOs have been shut down.”
This year, the MOH will continue to expands its focus in the United States.
“We have two main things that we are working on now,” Carlin said.
“We’ve always done funding for natural disasters around the United States for specific projects, but in 2023, we took our first mission trip to Kentucky to work in the Appalachian region. We’re planning our fourth mission to take place probably in July/August of 2026, so our focus is to try to get back to that missionary heart that we have is to do something locally for right now because it’s something that we can do.
“And in addition to that, working with Christian Appalachian Project, we’ve also done three tractor trailers loads shipments to them over the last two-and-a-half years of goods and equipment for them to put to use in the Appalachian region, which extends to 13 states from New York to Georgia. They have an outreach there that our goods and services go to. That’s one of the areas that we will continue to work on expanding.
“The other would be here locally. We have a program that we’ve had had for many, many years where we provide donated medical equipment to people who fall through either economic cracks or the insurance cracks and don’t have the medical equipment they need at home to be able to live safely in their own homes after their either recuperating or they’re elderly.”
Medical beds, walkers and wheelchairs are distributed for free in the program, which encompasses Clinton, Essex, and Franklin counties.
Due to a lack of missions, the organization has seen a decrease in the number of people participating, but the number of those who process donations weekly has not only remained stable, but grown over the last couple of years.
“People in the local community are looking for ways to have an impact not only here in the North Country, but throughout the country and around the world,” Carlin said.
“One area that continues to remain steady, and in some ways that also increased, is the number of people who were students on missions and had their first experience of mission, now they want their children to have. So people are reaching out and saying, ‘What’s your next mission? Where are you going?’ There remains steady interest, but it’s really important and integral that we have some hands-on mission experiences because that’s what truly changes hearts and changes lives,” Blow said.
Upcoming events include the annual Color Run slated for May 31 as well as the Towne Meeting benefit concert June 7. The 22nd annual McSweeney’s/North Country Mission of Hope Golf Classic at The Barracks Golf Course will be held the second Friday in August.
“We have that upcoming mission to Kentucky, which, again, will be either somewhere towards the end of July or after the golf tournament in August when we can be slotted in and they have openings down there and be able to accommodate us,” Carlin said.
“Most every Wednesday between 9 and 11, we have a group that comes in and packs donated supplies. That’s time when we do an intake of the equipment that has been donated. So every Wednesday pretty much from 9 to 11, we have that.
“And we also intake equipment and materials by appointment, so if someone can’t come in to bring in what they want to bring in in that time, then we’re happy to find a time that we can all meet together and get what it is that they want to donate.”
By appointment, the MOH will go to people’s home to set up equipment, for instance a hospital bed, if assistance is needed.
“We have always done this, but more and more by word of mouth, people are aware that we have, particularly, the medical equipment option. Sometimes, we have clothing and other supplies for families that have been burnt out or just have nothing. We do those things, but we’re always in need of medical equipment,” Blow said.
“I just read somewhere on Facebook that somebody didn’t know what to do with a hospital bed or a wheelchair. The Mission of Hope is always open to receiving those items as donations. Frankly, people are very grateful. By doing that, a lot of them have lost a loved one when they do this. and I can speak to that personally because of the loss of Sister Stephanie (Frenette, OP of the Dominican Sisters of Hope). It was such a life-giving moment in the midst of deep sadness to know that her equipment would be going to help other people and somehow helping them to have a better quality of life. So we are always in need of those medical items, and they come and go very quickly.”
Wheelchairs and transport chairs are particularly in high demand
“As soon as we get them in, they go right out,” Carlin said.
“Obviously, we can always use financial contributions because we have so many different projects,” Blow said. “All of that medical equipment that goes out, there is never any charge to any of that. We just graciously donate it back to another person who needs it. But our teams are the ones that provide the vehicle or the truck to get stuff to and from.
“Monetary donations not only to assist in that area, but there are always emergencies from disasters as well, so it allows us to do what we can where we can.”