How It All Came About

In November, 2003, sixteen men got together with the idea of doing home repair work for needy people. They looked around for a suitable organization to work with. Not finding one, they decided to create a new nonprofit corporation, "Helping Hands with Hearts." In May, 2004, they had their first official membership meeting and elected a Board of Directors. The following month they incorporated as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, and a few months later received IRS 501(c)(3) status, retroactive to June 1.

By November, 2004, they were ready to go to work. They began with a fairly large project, helping to establish a drop-in winter shelter for the homeless in Chambersburg. That project eventually received HHH assistance for major framing, insulation and drywall work, to the tune of over 400 man-hours. Other projects soon followed—for example:

• renovation of a mobile home bathroom that had been damaged by a water leak
• repair of a mobile home floor, damaged because of a broken, uninsulated water pipe
• installation of a Lifeline phone extension
• two separate wheelchair ramp projects.

Whom Do We Help?

In order to receive our services, an individual or family must qualify as "needy," as determined by an appropriate local assistance agency, welfare organization, or nonprofit charity. We do not make that determination, and therefore we cannot accept direct applications for our services.

Once we receive a qualified referral, our decision to proceed or not with the work is based solely on our ability to do it, within the parameters of safety, insurance limitations, and the availability of manpower and materials; and without regard to race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. Ideally the person being helped will pay some of the cost of the materials, if possible.

What Do We Not Do?

Because of insurance restrictions or HHH policy, we do not:

• work on roofs, eaves, or gutters
• deal with asbestos, lead paint, or other toxic or noxious substances which are the province of specially licensed professionals
• attempt anything that cannot be done safely--safety is of primary importance in all we do
• do any work, in general, on rental property. We feel that landlords should pay for improvements or repairs to their properties. We would rather use our available funds to help homeowners who otherwise would have to do without. However, if the referring agency agrees to pay all materials costs, we will consider an exception to this rule.

Our Finances

Our Directors, Officers, and other volunteers are all unpaid. They donate their time, and pay all of their personal expenses.

For materials and equipment we depend upon donations and grants. We gladly accept cash from individuals, corporations, foundations and governments, and we do actively seek grants. We are delighted to receive tools and equipment in good operating condition, and we solicit donations or discounts from materials suppliers. We are also able to receive items with high potential resale value, which we sell as quickly as possible for cash.

At the end of a job, any usable leftover materials are retained in our warehouse, which gives us a head start on another project.