With homelessness at its highest level across America since 2007, places like Open Hearts Community Mission play a crucial role in helping people get back on their feet.

Open Hearts in Statesboro is a non-profit organization that helps "clothe, feed and house the needy" in Bulloch County. The charity, founded in 2017, has provided assistance to nearly 700 people since opening. 

The 34-bed shelter on Martin Luther King Drive behind the Post Office is a community-supported and volunteer-staffed organization 

On Wednesday, September 3, from 5 p.m. to close, El Sombrero Restaurant, 406 Fair Road, is hosting a "Percentage Night" for Open Hearts Community Mission. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Mission.

Delia Mobley, a lifelong Statesboro resident, has served as executive director of Open Hearts for more than six years. Mobley said donations from Percentage Night will go towards the $6,000 needed to replace the Mission’s washer and dryer units. Also, the Mission is planning to build three additional family rooms this year, which will accommodate 12 more people.

Now entering its eighth year serving the community, the Mission assists on any given day about 20 people, including children and families, of every race, religion and background. The two biggest challenges people who come to Open Hearts face, Mobley said, are mental health issues and addiction.

All residents have a case manager, mentor and life coach to help them craft goals and markers for moving forward in life.

One of the main goals once individuals or families enter the shelter is to help them find employment. A financial mentor meets with residents once a week to discuss their goals, needs and financial stability and then helps draft a personalized financial plan. Open Hearts offers job search assistance, filling out job applications, resume building and tutoring. 

"[Open Hearts Community Mission] gives them hope, guidance and direction, and we are now seeing them be successful and productive citizens in society," she said.

Individuals and families are housed for 4-6 months, or until they can save enough money to secure stability to be on the outside. 

"We like for them to really get back on their feet and we’ve seen tremendous success," she said. "Our recidivism rate is less than 10 percent."

Mobley said Open Hearts’ next goal is to purchase duplexes and apartments for their graduates as transition housing. Mobley is also working on an advisory board made up of the shelter’s graduates.

Mobley said she goes to clients’ job sites, court dates or whatever moral support they may need in order to be a better version of themselves.

"This by far has been the most rewarding position I have ever found myself in," she said. 

For more information or assistance, contact Open Hearts Community Mission at (912) 623-2528.