HopeStone Catholic Formation Inc.

Hey oh! Here we go!
We are expanding our team.
If interested, apply today … or by Sunday Sept. 15th!

We’re searching for the next person to join our team!
Looking for someone who:
- Is passionate about our young people’s faith journey
- Is looking for part-time work (1-3+ days a week)
- Has access to a car (and willing to drive across the GTA)
- Has experience working in youth ministry or with young people.
- Can roll with the Holy Spirit and schedule changes
- Is ready to be transformed personally, professionally, spiritually and emotionally (physically too… we move a lot of chairs😂)
This person would join the team towards the end of September!
We need you!
We have over 15,000 young people waiting to meet us… will it be you who greets them?

Will be living in this moment for a while. ✝️🙏🎶
Grateful to pray beside our fellow campers.

That’s a wrap for week 1 HSLC for the North!
We had an incredible week - beyond words. Pray for our campers as they head home.
Final preparations for week 2 HSLC East coming up.
But first - sleep.
Second - living in a place of gratitude for all the amazing teens we met and blessed experiences we had.
Thank you Lord!

We miss being on retreats. But while our team gets a long awaited break, let’s look at one of the things that we absolutely love about our retreats. And that is getting to share our personal stories with the students!
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Your story can be a powerful thing, and often time it is these stories that help bring these students closer to an encounter with God.
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(If you check out the bottom of this picture you’ll find a Tim Hortons cup. Which has become a common sighting on the mornings of retreats)

That’s a wrap for the 2023-2024 school year for retreats! We are excited for a bit of a pause but we are also sad 🥹. We’ve met so many amazing young people this year and knowing we have to wait a couple months to meet again is hard.
Keep us in your prayers as we spend the summer debriefing, recharging and planning!

Grateful to work with two amazing schools today! Pray for the grade 7,8 and 11s that we saw today.
After getting to work with so many different Chaplains… we have to say… Chaplains are some of the most unsung heroes in our Catholic education system.
They all truly need our support as they continue their faith battle from within. If you can, try to pray for those in these positions daily. In a special way for those in certain boards where budgets keep getting cut down more and more.
We are so incredibly blessed and grateful for the support of all those chaplains we have the opportunity to work with.

Looking to dive deeper into 🔥Pentecost🔥 this weekend?
We’ve planned a free Mini-Retreat Guide for you and your family to do at home. Complete with prayers, games, content, activity and craft suggestions.
Transform your heart this weekend.❤️🔥
Head to our website to download your own copy: hopestone.ca/family-mini-retreats
Let us know how it goes!
Thanks for all your support everyone! ❤️🥰🥳
Feel free to share with others that you think would like this kind of adventure.

If it were up to us, which crown would we be wearing… the one made of thorns or the one made of gold?
What simple sacrifices are we willing to make for those around us?
Would we wear the crown for certain people and not for others?
Is love conditional? Is sacrifice conditional?
Hmmm…

Sometimes we break the rules… and eat pizza in libraries. Yes, we are aware that we have many posts about pizza… however, pizza is a staple for youth ministry. Change my mind 😂
Pray for the 150+ grade 9s and 10s that were on retreats with our teams today.

We seriously need your help.
We have been approached by 9 elementary schools to facilitate retreats for their communities.
Being a charity, we’ve done what we can to help, however, there’s only so much we can do. We need the help of others.
Visit our website and make a donation to sponsor one of these 9 retreats. With your donation, together we can reach over 550 young people.
If you want more information or details - please reach out and we can share more.

Just out there… in the west and in the east ✌️🕊️🙏… doing Gods work.

Witnessing young people meet God for the first time is extraordinary. Sensing that something has changed in their very soul and then watching them realize that God is a God of love… amazing!

HAPPY EASTER!!!
Let’s go!
Into the busiest time of the year - we will have about 12 retreats most weeks from now until June.
Keep those prayers coming! ✝️🥳🕊️

Blessed to be on these retreats working for the Lord.
Our team is working hard to meet the demands for retreat inquiries. Sadly, we’ve even had to turn down inquiries this year - which feels devastating. But the truth is there are only so many of us and so many days.
We do hope to continue to grow our amazing team into next school year. If you want to know how you can help us do this, send us a message!
Being able to do this type of ministry is life-changing. Not only because of the incredible young people we meet but also because it pushes us to a point where we can only do this with Gods help. Only through Him and His grace can it be done.
We so appreciate your prayers!
Consider saying a Hail Mary or Our Father for us daily. We know God will hear this community of prayers.

MEET THE TEAM
Frank Capisciolto
I have devoted myself to youth ministry because I believe in the life-changing message of the Gospel. Most recently I completed a diploma of Theology at St. Augustine’s Seminary.
As a youth minister for over 10 years I have primarily served poverty stricken youth at St. Philip Neri Parish and on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. While on the reservation I was asked to implement a healthy relationship curriculum to within the public schools, in a hope to positively affect the rate of abusive relationships among teenagers. Partnered with another Catholic Youth minister we modeled our program around Catholic teaching and were able to witness many fruits from our efforts.
I was also blessed to have served as youth minister in a more affluent Parish in the Dunedin, Florida region.I believe I am better Christian and youth minister then I was yesterday because of the experiences Christ has blessed me with. Now I look forward working with HopeStone and continuing to grow while in the service of the youth of Toronto.

We are tremendously blessed by these kinds of partnerships. One of the visions we have is bringing parishes and schools together. Being a part of this is honestly so incredible. Helping the youth ministers reach and meet new young people. Then having that youth minister invite these students to be involved within their church community.
Witnessing a chaplain and youth minister working together for students - awesome.

MEET THE TEAM
We have a few more people to introduce. Especially for those who may be newer to our journey!
Stacey Leitmann
Co-Founder with Pete.
When I was 12, I went on my confirmation retreat - first retreat ever. It opened my heart to another week long overnight retreat during the summer… My life was changed during that summer retreat. It was learning and realizing that God was in fact real and very alive. That day I told God I would do what He called me to do. It was on that day I felt an overwhelming calling to try against all odds and drive myself to one day facilitate retreats and maybe even open and run a retreat centre - giving others the TRUE opportunity to experience God and find out what it meant in their life.
My calling is to be bold, brave and to follow whole-heartedly where the Spirit leads me. I have a holy husband, three beautiful daughters and a son. I know that there is God who loves us. Now to share all of this - this is our mission.

There is a huge desire for young people to feel happy. To find happiness and only then will their lives be “good” or “better”.
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Unfortunately we know that sometimes happiness is fleeting or hard to maintain. This is because we should seek for joy. An everlasting joy. The closer we get to God, the closer we get to joy because just as God is love. God is joy! This should be encouraging and exciting!
Seek Him friends!

MEET THE TEAM CONTINUED!
We have some new followers so decided we’d re-introduce the whole team!
Peter Leitmann (Co-Founder)
My own faith journey began when I was a teen and my brother invited me to youth group. That one single invite changed my life. The leaders had a heart of Christ and a love for young people. They were there for me when I had questions and guided me when I was misdirected.
My desire to follow and know Jesus grew year after year; the more I learnt the more I realized how much I didn’t know but that was the driving force…to know and love God. It wasn’t until a young adult retreat I was on when I had my encounter with the risen Lord. This encounter was reinforced time and time again at many retreats, conferences, rallies and mostly importantly…celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
I look forward to seeing where this year takes us as a new charity!

Grateful for two awesome retreats today. Very exciting to meet a former CFL Offensive Lineman now as a Chair of Religious Education…
We had such fun groups today! These students were so engaged, invested and ready to receive.

We have some new availability for some dates coming up quick!
We know it’s exam week for many high schools but if you’re looking for a great experience for your elementary students (Gr. 5-8) contact us!

An incredible transformation. God bless you Shia.

Merry Christmas everyone!
Thank you for all your prayers, support, encouragement and love!
Time to get ready for the new year as we hit the ground running as soon as school starts!
Enjoy this remaining Christmas Season!

We’re still busy with retreats!
We will be facilitating retreats all the way until the Christmas break. Which is very exciting as we get to watch many students transition into the Christmas spirit. 🎄
We do find that sometimes this is a difficult time of year. Especially for those students who have lost someone special to them over the current or previous year.
There are lots of feelings and they sometimes need help navigating those moments. We’d encourage you to check in on anyone who might have lost someone as we get closer to Christmas. It’s okay to go to that place, help each other feel a little more see and supported.
If you could kindly keep those prayers coming!

MEET THE TEAM.
Alex Bruce
Alex is a new but also returning face. We were blessed to work with Alex last year as he did a year of mission work. This September he officially joined us as a member of the HopeStone family.
We’ve been beyond blessed to watch this young man grow professionally but also spiritually. Alex has a very willing and compassionate spirit, along with a skill in rolling with changes.
“Growing up the oldest of a large catholic family in a small town an hour outside of Toronto Ontario known as Alliston, I consistently attended my local youth group. Starting in Gr. 5 as an underager, going because my Dad helped out, all the way through Gr. 12 when I graduated high school. Throughout that time I threw myself into any and every youth ministry opportunity I could, including being a teen leader for the middle school youth group and leading music both there as well as the choir for our 5:00 vigil mass. Since then I have attended many different camps, conferences and events in youth ministry and grown a fondness for that specific type of ministry. After high school I attended Fanshawe College and earned my diploma in the Music Industry Arts program in 2020.

A couple years after graduation I heard the call to work in ministry with HopeStone. And after spending a year partnered with HopeStone as a part of the OCY Missionary program in the Archdiocese of Toronto, I finally joined the HopeStone Team. As I continue to work in ministry, I thank God for the opportunity to use my favourite gifts and talents to supplement this amazing ministry.”

MEET THE TEAM
Shania Nigli
Shania has been with us part-time since September! She is a caring, wise, gentle, merciful and faithful individual. It’s so clear that she is passionate about each and every person she meets. Offering them her compassion, understanding and respect. She meets these young people where they are at and we are so blessed to have her in the team!
“I grew up in a very Catholic and faith-filled family, but only began to take my faith more seriously and develop a personal relationship with Christ through my high school's chaplaincy club. During university I became involved in the pro-life movement and my view of the world changed dramatically. I felt called to pursue pro-life work on a full-time basis and have spent the last few years advocating for the unborn and assisting women in crisis pregnancies.

I have always been an active member in my parish community and recently had the opportunity to facilitate Edge and Lifeteen programs. Serving the young people through youth ministry has deepened my own relationship with God. I am very excited to now be working with Hopestone and be able to share my faith with others on a larger scale. Through this ministry, my hope is to lead young people closer to Christ and share the message that each one of us has been created by a loving and merciful God who has a special purpose and plan for our lives.”

What are Retreat Essentials you ask?
To start - yes - definitely (good) food! Pizza is typically the go to for school day retreats. It can be the most cost effective, especially if you’re on a budget.
Our team have become somewhat of pizza experts now. Ask us where you can grab a great slice in different cities and we will tell ya!
For real though - food can be essential. Even a snack. Fed people are happier, more kind and energetic people. Jesus shared meals all the time with those around him. It’s a common ground to help people get connected, more relaxed and feel cared for.
This is a great essential to have a retreat level up. You might think it’s ridiculous - but people always remember the food! 😉🍕🍪🧃
(Tip: try asking a group at your parish to sponsor food if your budget is tight, such as the Knights of Columbus ☺️)
Share any cost effective or essential food/snack suggestions below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
#🍕

MEET THE TEAM
This incredible women of God has joined our team. Veronica is passionately in love with the Lord. She has a zeal for sharing Gods message of love, self-worth and genuine purpose. She’s been involved in many different ways over the years in our Archdiocese and we are blessed to have her be with us part-time.
Veronica Stach
“I am what some may call a “cradle Catholic,” however, I definitely was not a good one. Being a part of the Catholic faith largely meant attending mass here and there because I had to, or following rules I didn’t understand. It wasn’t until I turned 22 that in a moment of desperation I uttered the words “Lord, I need you” silently in my heart. I then encountered Jesus in a way that brought me to my knees and opened my eyes to the incredible love He has in store for all of His beloved. That I was one of those beloved.
My life did a complete 180. I joined YTOL (Youth Teams of our Lady), a youth group that became a second home and played a huge role in my faith formation for the next 8 years.
Along my journey, I became increasingly drawn to St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and in 2017 felt called to become a chastity missionary, speaking about God’s plan for love, s*x and marriage. Since then God has given me the honour of serving Him as a speaker in a multitude of settings. Each time, filling me with awe at how powerfully he can use ordinary people for extraordinary things.
Today, I am living out my vocation joyfully married to my beloved husband, whom, as God would have it, was right there the day I gave my first “Yes” to Jesus. God is good. I cannot wait to continue sharing the message of God’s love through Hopestone ministry.”