Through Our Eyes: Relational Pathways to Hope Among Opportunity Youth

Purpose

Hope is a key component of resilience and positive youth development; however, marginalized young people often face structural barriers that undermine their ability to envision and pursue future goals. While existing research often emphasizes risk and deficits among youth disconnected from school and work, less is known about how these young people- referred to as opportunity youth- conceptualize and sustain hope in their everyday lives. This study explores how opportunity youth define and experience hope in the context of adversity.

Methods

Using a qualitative participatory design, this study engaged eight co-researchers aged 18–24 in Photovoice and focus groups within a workforce development program at the Social Enterprise and Training Center (SEAT). Participants captured photographs representing their perspectives on hope and discussed them collectively in facilitated group sessions, enabling collaborative interpretation and meaning-making. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns across visual and narrative data, with participant input incorporated to ensure interpretations reflected youths’ perspectives.

Results
Thematic analysis identified several interconnected themes shaping how opportunity youth experience hope. Participants described pre-program periods marked by social isolation, and uncertainty about future pathways. These experiences were often situated within broader structural challenges, including family instability, school exclusion, mental health struggles, and disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Across narratives, youth identified key turning points that prompted re-engagement, including encouragement from family members and entry into supportive youth development programs. Participants emphasized that hope developed relationally through peer support, mentorship, and a sense of belonging within the program environment. These relationships fostered opportunities for self-reflection, identity reconstruction, and motivation for change. Youth also described increasing future orientation, frequently linked to modeling behaviors for younger family members and aspirations for economic stability. Collectively, findings suggest that hope among opportunity youth is not solely an individual attribute but emerges through relational and institutional contexts that support empowerment and re-engagement.

Implications

Findings highlight the critical role of relational environments and youth-centered programming in fostering hope among marginalized young adults. Participants’ narratives suggest that hope is not solely an individual trait but develops through supportive social relationships, opportunities for belonging, and access to institutional resources that support re-engagement. Workforce development and youth-serving programs may therefore play an important role in rebuilding social connection, strengthening self-efficacy, and supporting identity development among youth who have experienced educational and economic disconnection.

These findings also have important implications for social work practice and policy. Interventions designed for opportunity youth should move beyond deficit-based approaches that focus primarily on risk and instead incorporate strengths-based and empowerment-oriented frameworks that prioritize relational support, mentorship, and opportunities for youth voice and leadership. Participatory approaches, such as Photovoice, may be particularly valuable for engaging marginalized youth in processes that affirm their experiences while informing program development.