For more than two decades, HEARTS (Helping Every Area Resident to Succeed) of Cleburne has exemplified what a heart for helping others looks like. It began in 2001 with a tender heart touched by suffering, when a Sunday School project exposed HEARTS founder Jackie Howle to some of the hardships and poverty in her area.

“What I saw broke my heart. I knew I had to do something, so I quit my job and founded HEARTS,” she says.

Today, HEARTS, with locations in Heflin and Ranburne in northeast Alabama’s Cleburne County, has grown into a multiresource organization, offering services and programs that address a range of issues. Its services include a pantry program that fights food insecurity for about 500 households; an annual Christmas Clearinghouse that ensures families have a decorated Christmas tree, gifts for children and a hearty holiday meal; a clothes closet; and financial assistance for critical needs like keeping the lights and water on.

Covering these short-term needs allows people to focus on their long-term success. And that’s the overarching mission of this faith-based nonprofit: guiding and aiding people on a journey to self-reliance. “We’re assisting them in taking that step up for themselves,” says Robi Mobley HEARTS’ executive director.

Alabama Power Foundation grant aids efforts of HEARTS of Cleburne from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Its programs target more specific needs, too, but always in pursuit of the same goal. Its Cancer Relief program extends HEARTS’ compassion and care to patients with financial difficulties, providing gas money to get them to doctor and treatment appointments, funds for medicines and access to the healthy, nutrition-packed meals they need to help the healing. “We also take care of income gaps when they can’t work and insurance gaps,” Mobley says. “We know alleviating some of that stress is beneficial to their healing, too.” In just the first few months of 2022, HEARTS covered $9,700 of medical expenses.

There’s the Stork Program, which delivers baby basics but also parenting training to first-time moms, and the related Grandmother’s Heart program, which supports young mothers with the wisdom of grandmothers as well as practical help. “It may be something as simple as the ‘grandmother’ watching a baby so the new mom can just get some rest,” Mobley says.

Taking kids to heart

An emphasis on inclusion is foundational to all of HEARTS’ work. “We’re here for anyone at risk, anyone in need, anyone suffering from bad choices – theirs or others,” Mobley says. Still, Mobley admits that kids claim a high priority at HEARTS. It’s why its school program, which started as a simple back-to-school supplies drive, has expanded through the years, and why, when the pandemic hit, HEARTS increased the program’s scope again. “We had already started working with counselors in our schools to get a clear picture of what our students need,” Mobley said.

When COVID-19 put the area’s digital and technology access gaps into sharp focus, HEARTS stepped up to bridge it. “There were students going to McDonald’s and sitting outside to access the Wi-Fi so they could do schoolwork. There were families who had four or five school-age kids trying to learn on one laptop,” Mobley says. The necessity of virtual learning meant students without computers and other tech tools and without internet at home were going to be left out and left behind. “So, I applied for an Alabama Power Foundation grant,” Mobley says.

It was the first grant funding Mobley sought in her HEARTS position. “That was so exciting. We knew what it would mean to these families and how important it was for these children’s education,” she says. Afterschool counselors identified who needed the help, HEARTS was able to provide computers, modems and a year’s worth of internet service for six families.

An Alabama Power Foundation Elevate Grant helped HEARTS of Cleburne provide computers for students during the pandemic. (Alabama Power Foundation)

Mobley and her team understood the impact, but so did the students. “The kids were just thrilled. It really was like Christmas morning when they got the computers,” Mobley says. “We saw that enthusiasm carry over into their work ethic for school; they knew someone cared enough to help them, and they wanted to make the most of that.”

Gift that keeps giving

Jennifer Swafford is an area school counselor who has been involved with HEARTS’ school programs for the past 16 years. She’s witnessed the change HEARTS’ tech donations made, pointing to one family in particular. “Our school curriculum, especially post-pandemic, relies heavily on the internet and availability of devices connected to the internet, and in our county, we have a large percentage of children being raised by grandparents who don’t have the background or the financial freedom to ensure technology is readily available in the home,” she says.

One of the families HEARTS aided was a grandmother raising her three school-age grandchildren; HEARTS provided them with a desktop computer and internet. “This has enabled the grandmother to concentrate on the daily needs of her grandchildren, instead of trying to drive to town to use the computer at the public library or art center,” Swafford says. “With gas prices continuing to rise, this not only provides more time at home, it allows her to make the most of her finances.”

“A State of Change” is the title of the 2021 Alabama Power Foundation Annual Report. (contributed)

While this specific program has ended, its positive effects have not. “The computer will continue to benefit this family, as the oldest grandchild will begin completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) and college acceptance process that is now all online,” Swafford says. “HEARTS’ contribution to this family will be evident for years and generations to come, by giving them access to opportunities that were once limited.”

Full hearts

Allowing students to take advantage of the power that technology provides is key but lessening the burden on an already taxed grandparent is huge in Swafford’s eyes.

“It truly represents the investment HEARTS makes each day with the residents of Cleburne County. HEARTS houses multiple resources not only for our students, but also for the families of our students. This creates a culture focused on enabling the entire family to succeed,” she says.

Mobley adds: “We are so thankful for groups like the Alabama Power Foundation as well as local businesses and others in the community. They continually step up to allow us to do what we do and do more than we thought we could.

“People here are just that way; they’re caring,” Mobley says. “And they trust us to use their money wisely. They know they are helping us provide comfort in times of need for those who might have nowhere else to turn. That’s our work.”

It’s work done by volunteers and a small part-time staff who often put in full-time hours. And the blessings are contagious.

“We have clients whose hearts are so filled they come back to help others as volunteers themselves,” Mobley says.

“I love what I do every day and am thankful for the opportunity. I gain so much from it. For one, it lets me stop thinking about me,” Mobley says. “And when you see a smiling child, there’s just not much that’s better than that.”

This story is from the newly released Alabama Power Foundation 2021 Annual Report. To view the complete report and learn more about the foundation’s programs and initiatives, please visit powerofgood.com.