A museum built inside a semi-truck pulls into Palm Beach Gardens next week. People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the traveling exhibit produced by Catholic Charities USA, parks at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola on North Military Trail for two days of public visiting hours, Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7.

The Palm Beach Gardens visit is the first of five Florida stops on the tour's 2026 schedule. After two days here, the truck heads to Miami (Nov. 9 and 10), Jacksonville (Nov. 13 and 14), Orlando (Nov. 20 and 21) and Tampa (Dec. 1 and 2). The local host is Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, which is bringing the exhibit to the cathedral that serves as the central church of the diocese.

What is inside the truck

The museum is housed in a digitally outfitted semi-truck, and its core is a set of 42 short video stories. Each one is told by a Catholic Charities staff member or volunteer from an agency somewhere in the country, describing in the first person the one client who affected them most and what it meant to help someone at a hard moment.

Visitors can also step through an interactive poverty simulation, in which you take on another person's life and work through the difficult choices that come with living on very little. An audio library offers curated segments of two to four minutes each, drawn from books on poverty, social isolation, bridge building and community action. Authors featured in the library include Arthur Brooks, Matthew Desmond, Robert Putnam and Oprah Winfrey.

Displays of national and state data lay out the scope of need and the role that social service organizations play in meeting it. And a small recording studio lets visitors tell their own story about someone who gives them hope, or about a time they served someone else.

The exhibit closes by pointing visitors to volunteer opportunities with their local Catholic Charities agency, so anyone who walks out wanting to help has a place to start close to home.

A three-year road trip

The museum opened to the public on March 26 in New York City, just north of Union Square, and began what Catholic Charities USA describes as a three-year national tour. Across 2026, 2027 and the first half of 2028, the plan is to visit more than 150 communities. This year's route runs through 21 states, mostly in the eastern half of the country, from Texas to Ohio and from Maine to Florida. The western states follow in 2027, and the first half of 2028 is set aside for communities that were missed or that ask for a return visit.

The project is funded by a grant of nearly $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc., awarded in 2024 through the endowment's National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.

The local host

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach was established in 1984. According to the tour's agency listing, it runs 12 programs and ministries and serves more than 15,000 clients across five counties. Catholic Charities USA, the national membership organization behind the exhibit, was founded in 1910 and supports Catholic Charities agencies across the United States and in five territories.

Before you go

Some of the material addresses poverty and stories of past trauma, so the museum is intended for visitors 14 and older. Friday's hours are longer than Saturday's, which closes at 1 p.m. The tour page lists public visiting hours at the cathedral and does not list tickets or reservations, and it offers a sign-up form for updates about this stop.

What: People of Hope Museum, a traveling exhibit from Catholic Charities USA hosted by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach
When: Friday, Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola, 9999 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens
Ages: Intended for visitors 14 and older
Details: peopleofhope.us

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