To make sure every neighbor has a warm place to turn.
We help people through the hardest weeks of their lives — with a meal, a bed, a tutor, and the simple dignity of being known.
It began with one soup pot
In the winter of 2009, six neighbors noticed that the family two doors down had gone quiet. They brought over a pot of soup. The next week, three more families came. Bright Hearth grew out of that first knock.
We've never lost the belief that the best help is close, patient, and personal. We don't scale by getting bigger — we scale by getting deeper into one community.
What we hold to
People before programs
We learn names, not case numbers. Every service starts with a conversation.
Rooted in place
One district, done well. Local hands make local trust that outlasts any grant.
Honest to the penny
87¢ of every dollar reaches programs, and our books are open to anyone who asks.
Fifteen years by the fire
- 2009
The first soup pot
Six neighbors, one church basement, and a promise to keep showing up.
- 2014
The pantry opens
Weekly grocery boxes join the nightly suppers as demand doubled.
- 2019
Warm beds begin
Twelve transitional rooms open above the old fire station.
- 2024
The after-school hearth
Tutoring launches for 94 kids, closing the circle from crisis to future.
The people behind the pot
Dana Okafor
Executive director
Teo Marchetti
Kitchen manager
Priya Raman
Housing caseworker
Help us keep the fire lit
Your gift funds the next meal, the next bed, the next child's homework.