The Villa of Hope will celebrate another year of providing comprehensive behavioral health, education, and community-based services at its “Portraits of Hope” event Friday.
It features a dinner, a silent fundraising auction, and a special guest speaker from the Buffalo Bills.
“Portraits of Hope is designed to highlight a specific person, almost like you can picture a portrait of a person on your wall. It gives you a sense of who they are and how they present themselves to the world,” says Carrie Carl, president and CEO of Villa of Hope.
“We always have a real client who has received services from one or more programs who tells their story,” she adds. “They tell the totality of their story including the portion of their journey where they have been partnering with Villa of Hope to receive services and the impact of those services on their life.”
Villa of Hope has been in operation on Dewey Avenue since the 1940s, when the Sisters of St. Joseph accepted several orphaned children who were still awaiting placement in the newly created foster care system. Since then, the organization has offered a variety of services, including behavioral health services and outpatient clinics, a specialized school with supplemental counseling services, and workforce development programs.
This year’s Portraits of Hope event is a bit of a reimagined one, Carl says. The organization is moving away from a formal gala to a relaxed celebration. For example, the keynote address will be more of a “coffee talk-style conversation.”
“There will be less formality and more real storytelling, overarching celebration and education,” she says. “In addition to a real Villa of Hope client telling their story using their words and their voice around recovery, we’re going to hear from Ray Davis, the Buffalo Bills running back, which is the first time the Villa has ever partnered with a special guest.”
Davis’ personal background and advocacy work made him a perfect fit. During the football player’s childhood, he experienced bouts of homelessness before landing in the foster care system due to young, absentee parents.
Through a Big Brother Big Sisters program, other community organizations, supportive adults, and Davis’ own resilience, he graduated from high school and college before being selected by the Bills in the 2024 NFL draft.
Davis currently gives back to the community through his own organization, Beat the Odds Foundation, as well as Fostering Greatness and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America. Last year, he was honored by Mental Health Advocates of WNY with their 2025 Advocacy Award.
“(Davis) grew up with challenges in his life that are very similar to challenges of people who have been served by the Villa over the decades of this organization existing,” says Carl. “He’s very open about having a moment of discovery in his life where he realized that sometimes you need help with mental health and getting help is a good thing. That obviously aligns wonderfully with our main goals and objectives for the evening.”
Fittingly, many items in the event’s silent auction will be autographed Buffalo Bills and Sabres memorabilia. In addition, a special event exclusive vest for sale is also Bills-themed.
Carl says that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen a noticeable uptick in mental health struggles. The effects of forced isolation and social anxieties surrounding the health crisis are still being felt.
“(COVID-19) was a medically focused pandemic that caused a secondary mental health pandemic. Human beings are not designed to be isolated from each other; we are hardwired to be social creatures,” she says.
“Ever since then, there was a crescendo in all of the signs and symptoms of mental health distress, rates of depression, rates of anxiety, rates of addiction, and rates of domestic violence,” adds Carl. “All of those things, in my perspective, are a secondary wave of pandemic that is very much behavioral health focused. I think the need is greater than ever before.”
A 2025 Gallup poll found that rates of depression in adults have remained historically high and that loneliness levels are once again reaching rates not seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this trend was true across age ranges, gender and ethnic identities, and socioeconomic statuses, people earning lower incomes were hit the hardest.
Carl predicts this trend will continue due to federal program rollbacks. This includes shrinking Medicare eligibility and cutting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“Because if you have a therapy appointment this afternoon for your depression, but you have not yet figured out how to feed your children dinner this evening, chances are, you’re going to prioritize your time on figuring out dinner for this evening for your family, instead of going to your therapy appointment for your depression. So it’s really complex and it’s really pervasive,” she says.
“Yet there are still so many examples of real people showing resilience as they work through challenges. They keep coming back even as they are recovering,” Carl adds. “And that’s the whole purpose of Portraits of Hope, to be a celebration of resilience.”
Carl says that, aside from continuing the services already offered at Villa of Hope, the organization wants to expand and connect the mental health service world. For example, currently empty space at the Villa’s campus could be taken up by the offices of other related organizations, creating synergy in providing services.
Villa of Hope has already shifted and expanded its own services. While the organization continues to aid youth, it has also responded to a need for adult services.
“It’s pretty common to have intergenerational transmission of behavioral health challenges. If you’re a child of someone who has an addiction or a substance use disorder of some kind, it’s very possible that you are biologically vulnerable to addiction,” says Carl. “If we can help adults get well with their behavioral health, then we’re actually improving the likelihood that their children and their children’s children and their children’s children’s children will be well over that intergenerational perspective.”
The Portraits of Hope event will take place on Friday, April 10, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Although tickets to the event are sold out, people can still participate in the silent auction event and the special-event exclusive vest online.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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