She found a community that believed in her. Through determination, creativity, and care, Hannah is helping make that belonging possible for others.
Hannah Pupillo approached her GED one subject at a time.
She knew how easily the whole undertaking could become overwhelming. For a long time, the possibility of failing had kept her from trying at all. So she gave herself a way to begin: work on one piece, then move to the next.
“And I did it,” she remembers. “I passed. I surpassed my own expectations.”
There is a great deal of Hannah in those few words: the fear she was willing to face, the practical approach she chose, and the discovery that she could accomplish something she had once struggled to imagine.
Today, Voices of Hope Maryland celebrates Hannah as one of our newest Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS). Her achievement deserves recognition. So does the woman who worked toward it while contributing her time, ideas, encouragement, and energy to the people around her.
To understand what Hannah brings to this work, it helps to understand what it took for her to begin.
While raising her family as a full-time stay-at-home mom, Hannah was searching for employment and a direction for her future. Repeated job rejections had worn on her confidence. She felt increasingly isolated and unsure how to move forward.
She decided to volunteer at Voices of Hope Maryland because she wanted something productive to do.
What she encountered changed what she thought might be possible.
“I found love, acceptance, and a sense of belonging,” Hannah shares. “People welcomed me in as if I had always been part of the family.”
She paid attention to that welcome. She watched peers take time to know people, recognize their strengths, and encourage them. She saw people grow when someone made the effort to understand them.
Then someone asked Hannah a question about her own future: What did she want to do with her life?
She said she wanted to earn her GED. She hoped it would help open doors to employment.
The response, as she remembers it, was simple: “So do it.”
Those words came with support. Voices of Hope Maryland helped cover some of the costs associated with her GED classes and studying. Hannah took on the work, breaking it into manageable parts and continuing until she passed.
“But the belief that everyone here had in me gave me something I hadn’t felt in a long time,” she explains. “Hope in myself.”
That growing confidence led to another choice. Hannah asked to become part of the team. After earning her GED, she was hired, and soon afterward she began the CPRS training program.
She had watched people offer the kind of care she wanted to give. Now she was building the skills to offer it herself.
Her learning deepened her understanding of harm reduction, mutual respect, cultural differences, and the circumstances that shape people’s lives. She came to appreciate both the experiences that connect people and the differences that deserve attention and respect.
At the center of it was an approach she describes plainly: meeting people where they are, without judgment, with love and compassion.
Her contributions give that approach a practical shape.
Consider the work behind a community game night. There are preparations to make and people to invite before anyone can enjoy the evening together. Hannah put substantial effort into that work for Harford’s Game Night, reaching out to recovery houses and helping bring people together.
More than 40 people attended. Her colleagues recognized her preparation and initiative, alongside Jason Almeida’s hosting and the wider team’s support.
Hannah’s own response revealed what she valued about the evening. It was, she wrote, “a lot of fun and a privilege” to spend time with the participants they spoke with every day.
She understood the value of simply being together.
That same willingness to contribute shows up in other forms. Hannah worked with Trish (Patricia Jackson) on local business outreach for the organization’s banquet fundraiser. These are the individual conversations and follow-through that help a shared effort come together.
She brought her creativity to the Elkton Parade, too, helping Rachel Battaglia create the Purple Minions sign for the Voices of Hope Maryland group. Organizers specifically thanked both women for the time and effort they put into it.
An invitation, a business contact, a handmade sign: each takes someone willing to do the work. Hannah has been that someone in ways that help the community connect, celebrate, and feel represented.
Her care also reaches toward another person’s future. When a Harford intern expressed interest in becoming a CPRS, Hannah connected that interest with the training program coordinator and asked for help with the next steps.
There is something especially meaningful about that act from someone who remembers wanting to move forward without knowing where to start.
When staff were invited to speak at a Sunday recovery-house meeting, Hannah volunteered even though Sunday was her day off. In summation, her willingness to make time: “Give me a reminder … it’s no problem.”
These moments help us see the person behind the accomplishment. Hannah brings initiative to shared projects, offers her abilities where they can help, and takes another person’s aspirations seriously.
She also understands that growth can be difficult.
Reflecting on her journey, Hannah describes learning to face challenges she once would have avoided. She has come to believe that people can get through what feels impossible, with support and room to grow.
“We can grow through what we go through,” she says.
Faith is part of how Hannah expresses that sense of purpose. Her favorite quote is from Ephesians 2:10.
Her choice sits naturally beside the work she describes and the contributions her colleagues have recognized. She has found meaningful ways to use her strengths, and she continues to put them into practice.
Hannah, congratulations on becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. We celebrate the determination that helped you earn your GED, the courage it took to pursue a new direction, and the care you bring to the community you helped build.
You once came to volunteer because you needed a place to begin. Since then, you have helped invite people in, create moments of connection, and bring someone else’s next step within reach.
When Hannah describes what she hopes to offer every person who comes through the doors, she returns to the support that helped her believe in herself:
“That is what I found at Voices of Hope. And that is what I hope to give to every person who walks through our doors.”
