About Us
About Us
Nourishing people in need since 1983.
Heart, Love & Soul is a non-profit hunger-relief and social care agency in Niagara Falls that nourishes people in need – body, mind, & soul – in partnership with others. Since 1983, we have provided the community with wide-reaching food assistance programs and human services for all residents to utilize at no cost, including a food pantry and free meals served daily. Over the last 10 years, we have provided over 458,000 meals through our food services.
Our newest addition, the Daybreak Program, brings together over 30 community organizations under one roof, allowing guests to easily access the social care services they need in a central location. Since the program’s inception in 2021, we have already provided over 9,405 amenities to guests – that’s a lot of success stories!
Our Mission
Heart, Love & Soul nourishes people in need – body, mind, & soul – in partnership with others.
Our Vision
We work collaboratively to build an equitable community that eliminates barriers, ensures opportunity, and transforms lives.
Inspired by the faith of our founders, and grounded in the Vincentian and Franciscan traditions that have informed our work, we hold the following values:
Dignity
We are welcoming – offering a non‐judgmental, safe, and respect‐filled space for all who enter it.
Social Justice
We walk alongside each person – connecting them to the resources needed to achieve their goals while fighting against systemic barriers to promote equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Stewardship
We are responsible for the resources of the agency – using high standards, best practices, and innovative strategies to care for our guests.
Collaboration
We work with others to understand our community and its assets, to identify and implement solutions, and create positive change.
Our History
A non-profit organization with over 40 years of service to the community.
1982
A prayer group at Sacred Heart
Church (Heart, Love & Soul) begins
collecting and distributing food to
community members who are
struggling with unemployment and
financial instability due to an
economic downturn.
1983
Through the generosity
of donors, HLS acquires a site on
Pierce Avenue to house its food
pantry operations.
1989
HLS begins offering hot lunches,
but lacks the proper facilities to
prepare and serve them on-site.
1997
A commercial kitchen is
installed at the Pierce Avenue
location to allow for food
preparation. Meals continue
to be transported and served
at various church halls.
2002
HLS purchases the former
Salvation Army thrift store at
939 Ontario Avenue in July 2002.
The space is large enough to
house all our facilities: food pantry,
commercial kitchen, and
dining room.
2004
HLS moves into the Ontario Street
location. Having one central facility
allows HLS to streamline service
provision and creates opportunities
for further expansion of services
to meet the needs of our guests.
2004
Later in the year, Mount St. Mary
Hospital begins providing a part-time
nurse to serve as the Community Care
Coordinator, and HLS hires a social worker.
These additions gave HLS the capacity
to provide social care services.
2009
Niagara University and HLS sign a
cooperation agreement, working
together to serve people in need
in Niagara Falls under the
Memorandum of Understanding.
2021
Daybreak begins serving members
of the Niagara Falls community,
incorporating case management
and collaborative services from
over 30 community partners.
Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Informed by our faith heritage, Heart, Love & Soul’s commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion will not simply be voiced, but lived. Our actions will define us.
This journey will be winding, ever evolving, and never ending.
Acutely aware of the scarcity of opportunity for so many, we will deepen our understanding of the challenges facing those we serve, recognizing that those challenges are rooted in long-standing, systemic patterns of racism, social inequities, exclusions, and divisions.
We will respond to racism and seek to address inequities in our own work and in the larger community.
We will confront poverty and hunger through solutions that are informed by lived experiences.
We will work with public and private partners to address food insecurity and ensure that everyone has the resources, support, opportunities, and networks they need to thrive.
We will strive to have a leadership team, staff, and board that is reflective of our community.
Finally, we will apply an equity and inclusion lens to everything we do and foster an environment where everyone’s unique skills, capabilities, viewpoints, and opinions are valued.
