February 16, 2021
A heart to help: Non-profit to open warming center in New Madrid
NEW MADRID, Mo. - LaKishea Braxton has a heart to help others. In 2018, she and her husband, Cornell, came to New Madrid to lead the New Prayer of Deliverance Church. As the church grew, the Braxtons wanted to do more. They explained they saw so many needs in their community and the surrounding area, they felt a call to take action. Last year they created the non-profit organization Heart2Help...
By Jill Bock/Standard Democrat
NEW MADRID, Mo. - LaKishea Braxton has a heart to help others.
In 2018, she and her husband, Cornell, came to New Madrid to lead the New Prayer of Deliverance Church. As the church grew, the Braxtons wanted to do more.
They explained they saw so many needs in their community and the surrounding area, they felt a call to take action. Last year they created the non-profit organization Heart2Help.
“The name says it all. To be honest with you it is something the Lord gave me,” said LaKishea Braxton.
“We do it from our heart and we are here for our community,” added her husband. “We want to extend that helping hand.”
The Braxtons explained they created the non-profit to work separately from the church.
“Even though it is a ministry, I don’t want people to actually define it as a church,” she said. “I want to show them that there are people out there who still care. People out there who love them and people out there who want to help them and not to put a limit on it because it is a resource coming from a church . . . Sometimes people don’t want to come and ask for help because all they see is a church.”
After forming their non-profit and becoming a 501C3, making Heart2Help a tax-deductible organization, the Braxtons formed a board, enlisted volunteers and hosted a 5K fundraiser.
At Thanksgiving, partnering with their church, Heart2Help gave away more than 125 turkeys to families in need. With assistance from Carmart in Cape Girardeau, at Christmas the organization provided 250 toys to children in New Madrid as well as surrounding communities including Hayti, Kennett, Portageville, Charleston and Sikeston.
But LaKishea Braxton’s heart was calling her to do more.
Last summer she and her husband witnessed a family living for a month in an abandoned trailer near their church in New Madrid. She was aware of others forced to live in their cars.
“And studies say anywhere there is drugs, there are homeless. In New Madrid County, we do have drugs here. Meth is an issue here. Opioids are an issue here,” she said.
Now, Heart2Help is taking on an even bigger mission by creating a warming center in New Madrid to provide shelter for the homeless. On Feb.12, she purchased a building at 300 and 302 Powell St. which will serve as the warming center.
Yet, even before that, word of her efforts began to spread and donations began to come in.
According to LaKishea Braxton, cots and linens were donated by a ministry in Hayti. Another ministry in St. Louis donated as well.
“You would be amazed, when people see you doing something how many people will give,” she said. “So contributions are coming in but a majority of it Pastor Braxton and I are taking out of our pockets. But God is making a way. He really is providing.”
Already they have helped a family in need of warm place to stay.
Recently the Sikeston Warming Center asked Heart2Help to provide housing for a couple for a weekend. Because their building was not yet ready, Heart2Help made temporary use of the church’s community room to provided the couple with a place to stay. Volunteers staffed the facility and cooked meals for them.
More than a warm bed and hot food, Braxton said a warming center offers the homeless a sense of security.
“Knowing that you can lay down your head and that no one will attack you gives them that sense of security while they are resting here,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I think the gentleman as soon as he got here laid down and slept the whole day.”
There are renovations needed for their Powell Street building but the Braxtons intend to have it ready for a grand opening in April. This will also mark the first year of Heart2Help.
Yet LaKishea Braxton’s heart is calling her to do still more.
She said with the building she will have more storage and be able to take needed donations of towels, shower shoes, socks, sweat pants and shirts along with toiletries for those using the warming center. Also Braxton sees the warming center serving as a soup kitchen providing a hot meal for anyone in need.
“I want to provide different types of resources,” she said ticking off programs ranging from computer classes to personal finance training. “You don’t want to put a Band-aid on a problem, you have to get to the root of it. If we can help (the homeless) get back on track with some of those things that caused them to be in that position at that time, we want to be able to do that.”
Also she is reaching out to other community organizations to learn about what they offer.
“I want to connect. I’m not here to work against anybody but I want to work with people. So if I run across somebody with a need and I can’t help them I can refer them to the resources to be able to bridge the gap,” she said.
Cornell Braxton urged those with questions or in need of information to contact them.
“If they call, we will get back to them,” he said. “We check our voice messages, our email and we will extend our hand back to the people who reached out to us.”
Heart2Help has a presence on social media including Facebook and Instagram. The website is www.heart2helpfoundation.com; the email is info@heart2help.online or callers can leave a voice message at 573-328-2444. The mailing address for Heart2Help is 338 Broadway, Suite 509, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.
LaKishea Braxton said she believes their efforts will grow in New Madrid then continue to extend throughout the Bootheel and across the state.
“We can’t save everybody but we can do our best to help. I feel we have a mission, a goal,” she said. “We have a heart to help.”
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