We are passionate about helping families grow together.
Our Mission
Growing Up Hope Society believes that families are stronger together and that with the right support children can find the safety to thrive, connected to their natural family.
Our Goals
Growing Up Hope Society’s Family Togetherness Program is aimed at:
Keeping families together while addressing the needs / issues that brought them into care.
Providing the space and the time to practice new parenting skills in a fully supported environment.
Meeting individual family needs through tailored programming.
Sheltering and providing for the entire family in order to reduce the daily living stressors so that parents can focus on healing their traumas and those of their children.
Providing a culturally relevant program for connection and access to cultural events.
Minimizing ACEs for children by providing a healthy and safe home environment with their parents.
Long-term successful parenting that sees a reduction in return to care.
About Our Founders
LaRae Sutherland
Executive Director, Program & Training
LaRae Sutherland is one of the founders and Executive Director of Growing Up Hope Society. The agency was born out of a passion to see families succeed in staying connected and together, and both strengthening and drawing strength from connection to their community. In her role as Executive Director, she focuses on program building, customization, and training.
With over 25 years experience as a foster caregiver, LaRae is well versed in the protection concerns that bring children into care. She specializes in trauma, FASD, ASD and attachment disorganization. She actively seeks out new opportunities to learn, develop and hone her skills and has taken over 1000 hours of training in child development, trauma informed care, mental health, play therapy, cultural trainings, EFFT, and executive function supports.
LaRae works extensively with our families to develop skills, competence, and confidence in all aspects of parenting and life. She is highly involved in the day to day activities in our residences, developing and adapting culturally relevant programs that work to stabilize our youth in a supportive way. She keeps us grounded in a framework that prioritizes growth and connection, and the development of day to day mechanisms and skills that contribute to ongoing success in home, family and society. LaRae is committed to the sharing of cultural teaching and experience with the youth and families we serve and has clear respect and acceptance of the lived experiences of others. She is committed to the equity and inclusion of members of the LGBTQIA community.
LaRae's belief, that is reflected in the way Growing Up Hope meets every challenge, is that the solution to any problem begins and ends with connection, and that a family that is connected with each other, their culture and their community, always has a path to thrive.
Thea Bramer
Executive Director,
Administration & Finance
Thea Bramer is onf of the founders and Executive Director of GUH. She knows how important the programs that GUHS offers are to the families we serve, and nothing sparks greater joy than to see a family unified in their future, on a safe and healthy path towards developing the skills and relationships that will carry them through this chapter of their lives. Togetherness is more than a goal, it's a passion that has created lasting change for many of the families we are able to work with.
Thea has supported many families through navigation of the child welfare system, and knows how important it is to tailor programming so that the right supports are available for the ages and stages of the children and youth we work with as well as addressing the specific needs of each unique family. Connection to community and culture can be the difference for so many of our families, and Thea strives to protect and facilitatethese connections. Currently she is completing her degree in Child and Youth Care at UFV while developing programming that reflects her learning. She has dedicated hundreds of hours to academic pursuits, while balancing her role as director and managing all of the administration within our agency.
When she is not managing the administrative side of GUHS, Thea is highly involved in the programs themselves, where she guides staff into developing their skills through the lens of changing their response and using connection as a way to facilitate deeper, healthier, long lasting change for the children we care for, and the families that love them.
Thea has been a foster caregiver for 15 years, focusing on sibling groups and infant care. Thea has a wide range of experiences supporting children and youth with a vast range of behaviour stemming from trauma and mental health concerns. She has supported new foster parents in their SafeBaby training and is a strong advocate for minimizing the ACES scores for children through remaining connected to their family of origin and providing a safe space for young mothers to grow into their role as parents. Thea also brings a love for the outdoors and continuously looks for opportunity, both personally and professionally, to connect with nature for healthier growth and development.