When Christopher “Hope” Hopes began looking at life after the U.S. Army, he had no shortage of options. After 27 years of military service, including more than two decades as an intelligence officer, assignments with elite and specialized units, deployments around the world and more than 20 relocations, Hopes could have taken his experience into a well-paid role in defense or government. Instead, he chose home care.
Nearly two years after opening his Griswold franchise in Howard County, Maryland, Hopes says the decision has given him something he valued throughout his military career: a clear mission.
“It’s been going great. We have over 70 families and Clients we serve now,” Hopes said. “Our operations have been very successful and the structure has been implemented. But it’s also not just a business. We are improving our community in every way, from donating our services to those who can’t afford care, all the way up to working with the Veterans Administration and being part of the fabric of the community.”
For Hopes, building a successful home care operation and serving his community are not separate goals. They are part of the same plan.
Before becoming a Griswold franchise owner, Hopes spent nearly three decades learning how to lead teams and manage complex operations where preparation and execution mattered.
“I was an operations director for 27 years,” he said. “My final assignment was the Operations Branch Chief for the Intelligence & Electronic Warfare Portfolio, where I oversaw 23 programs of record of the most complex systems on the planet. Understanding the operations pipeline translates. I was also an intelligence officer for over 20 years, so there was market analysis, acquisition process and logistics, understanding your target audience and being able to craft a message to them.”
Those experiences now inform how he runs his Griswold business. “The hard lessons I learned as a Battalion Commander in the military have easily translated to successfully running a compliant home care business," Hopes said. “We have a vision for the company, and all of our lines of effort move into that.”
That background made franchising particularly attractive. Hopes was comfortable working within established systems, but after nearly three decades in the military, he also wanted the ability to lead and make independent decisions for himself.
“Franchising is a great fit for veterans,” he said. “You’re buying into that standardization, but as an independently owned franchisee, I am still able to adjust when needed. At Griswold, I love how other franchise owners are always available for a quick call to discuss lessons they are learning from the field. I know I can call any owner in the network and they will make time to answer my questions."
After his final deployment to Afghanistan in 2021, Hopes began thinking seriously about what he wanted his next chapter to look like. His search eventually introduced him to Griswold, a home care brand with more than four decades of experience.
He explored several industries and spoke with multiple home care franchisors. What ultimately set Griswold apart, he said, was less about any individual feature of the franchise model and more about the organization's approach to partnership.
“I went around and talked to a lot of different home care franchisors, and I found that Griswold was the best fit for me,” Hopes said. “It wasn’t just what they were doing; it was how they made me feel. Griswold has a strong vision to be a strategic partner with the healthcare industry, whereas some of the other options I considered felt very transactional. That didn’t call to me as a veteran.”
That reinforced something Hopes had identified early in his search. In 2024, as he prepared to open the business, Hopes said he wanted to do something his growing daughter would see as “righteous and noble.” That goal still shapes how he thinks about the company today.
“The people at the franchisor level are a great fit for veterans,” Hopes said. “There is a strategic plan to be a partner to the community and to be of value to the community. You are not just siloed out in the community. You see there is a vision for where the company is going.”
As Hopes has grown the Griswold Home Care for Howard County business, he has also made supporting other veterans part of its operations.
He recently hired Jeron Ford, PHR (USN, Ret), a 22-year Navy veteran, as his primary staff member. Hopes said Ford's transition into the company demonstrated how skills developed in the military can translate into a field that many veterans might never initially consider.
“He made a seamless transition from the Navy into the recruiting operations of the company, and it’s been amazing,” Hopes said. “We are hiring veterans, too.”
For Hopes, that matters because leaving military service can leave veterans searching for the sense of purpose and connection that defined much of their previous careers.
“A lot of veterans will get out and start doing the same thing in the defense industry, but a lot of people don’t realize that being a director with Griswold is exciting,” Hopes said. “I can come in, I can do great things, and I have a strong network backing me. This industry is changing every second, and I feel personally and professionally fulfilled working in home care.”
Ford, Hopes said, had already held multiple jobs after leaving the Navy before finding his place with the Griswold team. “Now everything that he does goes to a line of effort that alleviates suffering for human beings in our community,” Hopes said. “He is a helper of the helpers.”
That sense of mission is one reason Hopes believes home care deserves more consideration from veterans contemplating their own next chapter. Military experience can provide a strong foundation in leadership, logistics, accountability and operating within systems, while home care gives those skills a direct human purpose.
Hopes' military background has also helped his franchise build relationships within Maryland's veteran community. As a veteran himself, he understands the VA system from the inside and can speak to veteran Clients and their families from a place of shared experience.
Moa
“I have unfettered access to the VA as a veteran,” Hopes said. “It’s a natural fit. When I make a phone call, I can establish myself by saying I spent 27 years in the service and have done every job from the lowest levels up to the highest levels. Veterans trust other veterans, and when I work with a family needing care, I know what they are going through with the VA because I use their services as well.”
Griswold more broadly has made serving veterans a priority, encouraging eligible franchise locations to seek credentialing with the VA and its community care network. The brand also has an exclusive partnership with Patriot Angels, which helps families navigate the VA Aid and Attendance benefit process.
That philosophy extends to how Hopes supports his Caregivers and the broader Howard County community. His team has donated services to people who otherwise may not have been able to afford care, while Hopes says he is continually looking for ways to invest in and support the people responsible for delivering that care.
When Hopes first considered entrepreneurship, he was not simply looking for a second career. He was thinking about what his work would communicate to his daughter after she had spent much of her childhood watching her father serve in the military.
That led him to Griswold and a business built around helping older adults, people with disabilities and families remain supported in their own homes. Today, with more than 70 families and Clients served, a growing team and deeper roots in the Howard County community, that original motivation remains at the center of the business.
His job looks very different from the one he held in the military, but Hopes sees continuity between the two chapters. Both require disciplined operations, strong teams and a willingness to take responsibility for a mission larger than oneself.
For Hopes, that is also what makes Griswold ownership a compelling path for other veterans.
“Veterans really want more than just a paycheck,” he said. “For me, I truly love what I do.”
To find out more information on costs to buy a Griswold franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/griswold.
Griswold
SPONSORED
The Army veteran reflects on how his military career shaped his approach to building a Caregiver team and why he chose a mission his daughter could be proud of.
When Christopher “Hope” Hopes began looking at life after the U.S. Army, he had no shortage of options. After 27 years of military service, including more than two decades as an intelligence officer, assignments with elite and specialized units, deployments around the world and more than 20 relocations, Hopes could have taken his experience into a well-paid role in defense or government. Instead, he chose home care.
Nearly two years after opening his Griswold franchise in Howard County, Maryland, Hopes says the decision has given him something he valued throughout his military career: a clear mission.
“It’s been going great. We have over 70 families and Clients we serve now,” Hopes said. “Our operations have been very successful and the structure has been implemented. But it’s also not just a business. We are improving our community in every way, from donating our services to those who can’t afford care, all the way up to working with the Veterans Administration and being part of the fabric of the community.”
For Hopes, building a successful home care operation and serving his community are not separate goals. They are part of the same plan.
Before becoming a Griswold franchise owner, Hopes spent nearly three decades learning how to lead teams and manage complex operations where preparation and execution mattered.
“I was an operations director for 27 years,” he said. “My final assignment was the Operations Branch Chief for the Intelligence & Electronic Warfare Portfolio, where I oversaw 23 programs of record of the most complex systems on the planet. Understanding the operations pipeline translates. I was also an intelligence officer for over 20 years, so there was market analysis, acquisition process and logistics, understanding your target audience and being able to craft a message to them.”
Those experiences now inform how he runs his Griswold business. “The hard lessons I learned as a Battalion Commander in the military have easily translated to successfully running a compliant home care business," Hopes said. “We have a vision for the company, and all of our lines of effort move into that.”
That background made franchising particularly attractive. Hopes was comfortable working within established systems, but after nearly three decades in the military, he also wanted the ability to lead and make independent decisions for himself.
“Franchising is a great fit for veterans,” he said. “You’re buying into that standardization, but as an independently owned franchisee, I am still able to adjust when needed. At Griswold, I love how other franchise owners are always available for a quick call to discuss lessons they are learning from the field. I know I can call any owner in the network and they will make time to answer my questions."
After his final deployment to Afghanistan in 2021, Hopes began thinking seriously about what he wanted his next chapter to look like. His search eventually introduced him to Griswold, a home care brand with more than four decades of experience.
He explored several industries and spoke with multiple home care franchisors. What ultimately set Griswold apart, he said, was less about any individual feature of the franchise model and more about the organization's approach to partnership.
“I went around and talked to a lot of different home care franchisors, and I found that Griswold was the best fit for me,” Hopes said. “It wasn’t just what they were doing; it was how they made me feel. Griswold has a strong vision to be a strategic partner with the healthcare industry, whereas some of the other options I considered felt very transactional. That didn’t call to me as a veteran.”
That reinforced something Hopes had identified early in his search. In 2024, as he prepared to open the business, Hopes said he wanted to do something his growing daughter would see as “righteous and noble.” That goal still shapes how he thinks about the company today.
“The people at the franchisor level are a great fit for veterans,” Hopes said. “There is a strategic plan to be a partner to the community and to be of value to the community. You are not just siloed out in the community. You see there is a vision for where the company is going.”
As Hopes has grown the Griswold Home Care for Howard County business, he has also made supporting other veterans part of its operations.
He recently hired Jeron Ford, PHR (USN, Ret), a 22-year Navy veteran, as his primary staff member. Hopes said Ford's transition into the company demonstrated how skills developed in the military can translate into a field that many veterans might never initially consider.
“He made a seamless transition from the Navy into the recruiting operations of the company, and it’s been amazing,” Hopes said. “We are hiring veterans, too.”
For Hopes, that matters because leaving military service can leave veterans searching for the sense of purpose and connection that defined much of their previous careers.
“A lot of veterans will get out and start doing the same thing in the defense industry, but a lot of people don’t realize that being a director with Griswold is exciting,” Hopes said. “I can come in, I can do great things, and I have a strong network backing me. This industry is changing every second, and I feel personally and professionally fulfilled working in home care.”
Ford, Hopes said, had already held multiple jobs after leaving the Navy before finding his place with the Griswold team. “Now everything that he does goes to a line of effort that alleviates suffering for human beings in our community,” Hopes said. “He is a helper of the helpers.”
That sense of mission is one reason Hopes believes home care deserves more consideration from veterans contemplating their own next chapter. Military experience can provide a strong foundation in leadership, logistics, accountability and operating within systems, while home care gives those skills a direct human purpose.
Hopes' military background has also helped his franchise build relationships within Maryland's veteran community. As a veteran himself, he understands the VA system from the inside and can speak to veteran Clients and their families from a place of shared experience.
Moa
“I have unfettered access to the VA as a veteran,” Hopes said. “It’s a natural fit. When I make a phone call, I can establish myself by saying I spent 27 years in the service and have done every job from the lowest levels up to the highest levels. Veterans trust other veterans, and when I work with a family needing care, I know what they are going through with the VA because I use their services as well.”
Griswold more broadly has made serving veterans a priority, encouraging eligible franchise locations to seek credentialing with the VA and its community care network. The brand also has an exclusive partnership with Patriot Angels, which helps families navigate the VA Aid and Attendance benefit process.
That philosophy extends to how Hopes supports his Caregivers and the broader Howard County community. His team has donated services to people who otherwise may not have been able to afford care, while Hopes says he is continually looking for ways to invest in and support the people responsible for delivering that care.
When Hopes first considered entrepreneurship, he was not simply looking for a second career. He was thinking about what his work would communicate to his daughter after she had spent much of her childhood watching her father serve in the military.
That led him to Griswold and a business built around helping older adults, people with disabilities and families remain supported in their own homes. Today, with more than 70 families and Clients served, a growing team and deeper roots in the Howard County community, that original motivation remains at the center of the business.
His job looks very different from the one he held in the military, but Hopes sees continuity between the two chapters. Both require disciplined operations, strong teams and a willingness to take responsibility for a mission larger than oneself.
For Hopes, that is also what makes Griswold ownership a compelling path for other veterans.
“Veterans really want more than just a paycheck,” he said. “For me, I truly love what I do.”
To find out more information on costs to buy a Griswold franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/griswold.
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