Impact
Here at Matters of the Heart, Inc., through our involvement with other outreach organizations, in the provision of shelter, this effort has created homes for multiple families. We are constantly taking many children, women, and men off the streets to educate and position them to become positive citizens to their communities at large.
We are facilitating community growth by empowering its members. A community succeeds only when its members are empowered to make it grow, and this is what we are doing – Helping individuals and our communities thrive. We provide and execute outreach and community-based healing and wellness programs. We are helping, healing, and restoring neighborhoods, one family at a time. Through a display of unconditional love, we offer a vast offering enrichment program to aid in healing and recovery. To help abuse victims, to help to facilitate their healing and recovery to ensure they get back on their feet and maintain continuous access to our support and services.
We also look out for the young ones in the community. We are showing them that crime isn’t an option while training them to be law-abiding citizens and equipping them with all the skills and support they will need to impact their respective communities positively. And while we are spreading faith, hope, and love to our community, we also make sure we care and cater to all the medical needs of individuals seeking help. We all deserve to live a healthy life, and that’s what we do. Make sure each person receives the chance to be at an optimum state of health, providing them with all the necessary healthcare and support they need.
Problem Indentified
Many communities we serve have no adequate job skills, either because of an insufficiency in the area of qualification in education or both. The number of people who require assistance from us is closely related to these factors. Some others may have attained specific knowledge but are unaware of how to utilize it to help themselves.
With a literacy level of 84%, Louisiana is among the top literate states in the United States. This literacy rate is expected to translate into a lesser crime rate as studies suggest a negative correlation between illiteracy and crime rate. Unfortunately, this is not so in Louisiana. Those who have no means of sustenance must look for a way to provide for themselves and their families; as a result, some succumb to crime.
The population of young people worldwide is about 7.2 billion, with 90% percent living in developing countries. Around 1.2 billion of these young people are adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years. Most of these young people in emerging countries engage in crimes and vandalism to provide for themselves.
Women and children bear the brunt of socio-economic hardship in any country. Globally, one in three women are subject to either physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. 27% of women aged 15-49 years who have been in a relationship report to have been sexually or physically abused by their partner. And it’s not just women, but children as well.
According to Urban Footprint, reports indicate that one in five households in Louisiana lacks sufficient food supply. With about 21% suffering food scarcity, 367,000 homes lack the financial backing to purchase food consistently. A further 15% of the population suffers from food insufficiency. COVID-19 has ravaged the world, and Louisiana has not fallen behind. Households not affected by this food shortage because of the Pandemic have reduced, increasing the number of people suffering this societal issue.
The top leading causes of death in Louisiana are heart disease, cancer, accidents, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke. Death is inevitable in life, and with proper diagnosis, medication, and care, one can better manage these causes. Our goal is to educate and provide the necessary resources to manage their health more advantageously.
Our Solutions To These Problems
As of January 2020, there were about 3,173 homeless people in Louisiana on any day. Our purpose is to reduce this number to the barest of a minimum drastically. We partner with other Outreach organizations and agencies with a similar vision of eradicating the problem of homelessness. In line with this, we are constantly seeking out and helping as many homeless people as possible who are ready to be empowered financially. To teach them and to equip them with all of the necessary life-given skills they can use to sustain themselves and their families. We are making the world a better place for those in need by providing their immediate essentials such as healthcare, feeding, housing, empowerment, and so much more. No human deserves to live below the world standard of living. With this ingrained into our minds, we are taking great strides to do our part to make the world a better place by enabling our recipients to achieve wholesome and healthy lifestyles.
Eradicating poverty through education
Our ongoing mission is to obliterate illiteracy, emphasizing massive awareness and education to areas that lack access to adequate help. The need to alleviate poverty is ever glaring, and education is a step in that direction. Education has proven time and time again to build better citizens and, therefore, better communities.
Empowerment schemes
We empower as many adults as possible with practical life skills to live a profitable, productive, and meaningful life through our skill acquisition programs. Our focus is to reduce the influx rates in the communities we serve. We have volunteers who are trained and committed to assisting and supporting us in achieving this goal. We train and monitor our participants in each program to show progression and ensure they can utilize all of the acquired skills gained successfully.
Provision of shelter
We act in tandem with other outreach organizations and government agencies to solve the problem of housing. Not only are we creating adequate housing facilities for the homeless, but we also ensure they are safe and secure as well.
Healthcare services
We partner with healthcare providers to provide health care services, advice, and medication to those in need. We train people in health standards and practices and first aid. We provide medical checkups and recommend actions in difficult situations to those who come to us.
Juvenile Programs
Young adults who seem to have no other option are resulting in crime, which has a very negative effect on society and the lives of these poor kids. Our way of solving this problem is - We take young adults off the streets, and equip them with all the necessary skills they need to become productive members of society, so they do not resort to crime. We also provide essential rehabilitation where required, provide guidance, and counseling to condition them to become upright and lawful individuals.
Helping victims of abuse (women and children)
We provide optimum protection for abuse victims. We offer psychological, emotional, and even lawful support to help those victimized by abuse. We also partner with law firms, when necessary, to afford specific legal help. Matters of the heart Inc. also tasks itself with helping victims of abuse to forge through trauma to an emotional state of well-being. We provide support, education, and assistance; to ensure a successful recovery.