Community Stories
Heart2Heart is at its best when within meaningful one-on-one connections: one volunteer bringing love, hope and purpose to one senior who is lonely. These are the stories of Heart2Heart volunteers who are making all the difference in the lives of our aging saints.
You can join their efforts! You can help bring joy to seniors in homes and in care centers throughout South Florida who are battling isolation.
Big Ideas and Small Acts of Kindness
We were inspired by the story of Rashaad Green, an inspirational student we met at a college volunteer fair. At 22 years old, he is helping homeless people, including a 64-year-old senior, and he’s started a club that will bring art therapy to seniors. He dreams of one day curing cancer and opening a permanent and temporary housing facility for the homeless.
The Glamorous Stories of a 1940s Broadway Dancer
Lillian Flowers is 98. She lives alone in Fort Lauderdale.
She used to dance on Broadway.
While volunteer Steve Retford is helping her get services she needs, he gets a front row seat to glamorous stories from Broadway, filled with famous theater producers, celebrities (she dated Dean Martin briefly), and traveling through a life of show biz.
We extended his front row seat so you can listen to Lillian’s stories too.
Heart2Heart Welcomes New Staff — in a New Space!
In case you haven’t met them in person yet, we introduced the new additions to our team:
– Rosevel “Rosie” Castro, outreach coordinator
– Peighton Stone, dietician and intern with us from Nova Southeastern University for eight weeks
Some of our team got new roles, too. Check out all the details about that — and our new office!
Senior shares memory of winning Olympic Gold
Our seniors are full of fascinating stories. Lucky for our Heart2Heart volunteers, one of the most powerful ways they can help seniors is to spend...
Volunteers Deliver Christmas Miracle to Seniors
Right before Christmas, Heart2Heart volunteers delivered a bounty of food to senior Cecilia Gannon and her husband, James. “The way Heart2Heart came...
Senior Finds Joy and Purpose through Volunteering
After retiring in 2020, life felt like an extended vacation for Eileen Kent, 76, of Cooper City. But after about two years, it wasn’t much fun...
Boys Bring Holiday Cheer to Seniors
A troop of boys singing Christmas carols brought smiles to the seniors at Coral Plaza Margate on Dec. 2. The boys, all dressed in their army...
How Our Patient Advocates Make a Difference
This year, Heart2Heart hired two patient advocates — Maria Purgavie and Shirley Ramos. Since July, they became responsible for connecting with...
The Heartbeat of an Outreach
Malcolm Mcallister holds a special place in the story of Heart2Heart. It wasn’t just that he developed close-knit friendships with our...
Dependable and Kind: How One Volunteer Kept a Senior Mobile
All her life, Barbara Giannou has been active and independent. Even being born deaf never stood in her way. But when mounting medical...
Activity director spills the secrets to staying active
You could say that Ellyn Fishbach is an expert at staying active through the golden years. For one, she waited until after retirement to begin...
Daughter Feels Grateful for Help in between Treasured Moments
In his younger days, Vinal Thomas was a vibrant, pew-jumping pastor. He and his late wife helped plant nearly 30 churches, and he constantly...
Celebrating Self Care through staying active
Marie Perry, 65, has stayed young through staying active. As we celebrate Self-Care Awareness Month, we asked for her perspective on taking care of...
A Volunteer’s Strength Helps a Senior Move
For 84-year-old Marilyn Kerr of Boca Raton, moving to a new home felt impossible. She had sold or given away most of her furniture because her new...
Church Volunteers Bring a “Beach” Baptism to a Nursing Home
Fifteen people were baptized at Seaview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center last month — a number that surprised even the volunteers who organized the...
A Friendship Forged in a Stressful Move
Heart2Heart Volunteer of the Month Florica Rebelo made life less stressful for a senior who was forced to move out of her apartment. When Marilyn's...
Nurse’s Personal Journey Inspires Her to Connect as a Relief Care Volunteer
After a long day working as a nurse in the early 2000s, Marie Perry would come home to care for her two small children and her father-in-law, who...
Connections through conversations, stories and plants
Every week, Sabrina Bortz looked forward to delivering meals to Louis. After she handed off his weekly meals, the two of them wandered around...
Volunteer Fulfills Her Calling by Giving to Seniors
After Jessica Jean went down to part-time at work in order to spend more time with her two daughters, she realized she had a little too much time on...
Heart2Heart Connects to Seniors in Hialeah
Seniors at Sun Village Homes in Hialeah, created a Mother’s Day themed craft as a quartet of Hispanic singers sang Christian songs in Spanish. The...
Teen makes “punny” cards to connect with seniors
A boldly colored block of cheese sits next to a cheese grater, both meticulously colored in Crayola markers. Careful, hand-drawn calligraphy in...
Easter baskets bring cheer to seniors
Employees at Team Horner Group delivered 24 Easter baskets to the residents of a senior living facility in Oakland Park on Good Friday. The...
Volunteer Goes the Extra Mile to Help Seniors
Greg Bartolai, 52, of Coconut Creek, goes the extra mile for seniors. Not only does he deliver meals to seniors through Heart2Heart’s Food for...
John and Lynn Offerdahl deliver Food for Hope meals
John and Lynn Offerdahl saw firsthand how the meals made in their restaurants nurtured a relationship between Heart2Heart volunteers and seniors in...
Featured Volunteers
Nohemy
Nohemy is a sweet senior whom we met because she worked in the building where Heart2Heart is located. We saw how hard she worked, and it pained us that she spent so much of her earnings on bus fare to get to work.
Heart2Heart did something about it. We raised $3,000 on Nohemy’s behalf to help her purchase a 2005 Kia Sorento. Now, Nohemy uses that same car Heart2Heart bought as a volunteer.
Linda
Linda is 65 and lives in a nursing home due to a condition called dystonia, which causes her muscles contract uncontrollably. Linda’s only living relatives are cousins who live in other parts of the country.
Two years ago, Heart2Heart volunteer Erin Sitton began visiting Linda. Soon, they formed a deep connection, to the point where Erin and her husband Andy consider Linda family.