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A BIT ABOUT US
Housing Hearts began as a concept for a college project during the first semester of a new course titled Social Entrepreneurship. We were tasked with creating a non-profit organization that dealt with homelessness and that we did. After the semester ended and we learned what we now know about homelessness, Matthew Calma and Leylah Murad decided to take Housing Hearts from just a concept on paper to a real organization that can help in crafting the solution for homelessness.
During the course, our team was tasked with interviewing different people who led homeless organizations across the country. Out of all the dozen conversations that we had, one sentence stuck out to us: “The last thing we need is another homeless non-profit.” Keeping that in the back of our minds throughout the creation of what would eventually become Housing Hearts, we sought to not try and push ourselves into an already crowded room, but instead work with and become a strong partner in the community of homeless organizations that are already doing amazing work around the city.
The goal of providing housing for the homeless seems like the last step after mental health services, substance abuse services, and a job is acquired by homeless individuals. What we have now come to learn about homelessness is that to put people on the path to self-sufficiency and make living on the streets a thing of the past, we must provide housing as the first service to homeless people. Then comes other necessary services. Helping the homeless is a holistic approach that requires many different steps at the same time. None of that is possible nor is it effective without the individuals being helped having access to privacy, independence, and security of their own home.
Our Foundations
Housing Hearts is based on three principles:
Consistency
Impact
Transparency
We aim to create a connection between you who support the homeless and the men, women and children that are being supported by your money. You should not feel like you are sending your money off into a void when you donate. Housing Hearts not only wants to encourage you to donate a small fraction of the money that you have and show you how big of an impact you can make, but we want to encourage you by presenting exactly where your money is going and how you are an intrinsic member of the community and of Housing Hearts.
We see you as the core foundation of Housing Hearts, we see you as the support for the homeless. We are simply taking the time and doing the work to manage the money that you donate and put it to work in an effective and efficient way to make real changes in the lives of people all across the city who just need a hand to become independent and self-sufficient once again.