When you look up the word “passion” in the dictionary, there will be a variety of definitions for it. One of those definitions seen through a Google search defines it as “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something”.
That is what Sherelle Hogan has for the Pure Heart Foundation.
For the unfamiliar, the Pure Heart Foundation is a non-profit organization based out of Detroit that caters to children in Metro Detroit with incarcerated parents. A portion of their mission is to “empower children of incarcerated parents to break the cycle of generational incarceration”. In addition to that, they want to provide “limitless resources that will result in them living happy and fulfilling lives.”
Hogan, who is the CEO and founder of the Pure Heart Foundation, is no different than the youth she services.
The reason why?
She too was once a child with an incarcerated parent, as both of her parents served time in prison during her childhood.
Hogan’s focus is on making sure children in Detroit don’t face the same fate she did. She has made it her life’s work to serve the children in her foundation. Her work over the past several years has garnered the attention of many Metro Detroit business and local professional sports teams, looking for ways to be an asset to her cause. These efforts led to Hogan securing a location this past February for her “Pure Heart Scholars”; a location where she intentionally decided to be rooted. Located on E. McNichols, the open house for Pure Heart was to take place on February 22nd.
Then something unfortunate took place.
A day before their open house, the organization was the victim of vandalization and burglary.
With something this unfortunate taking place, Hogan could have simply lost hope. The location was risky. Additionally, it took a lot for her to secure it. However, Hogan’s plan isn’t to quit. It’s to stay rooted and fight harder.
“As of right now, we are rebuilding and reopening the facility,” said Hogan.
According to Hogan, Pure Heart has taken extra safety precautions to secure the facility, which including revamping its security system and much more. It’s what Hogan said was their biggest hurdle to clear.
“We lost a lot of money during renovation,” Hogan said, “but we’ve received a lot of community support.”
From a bevy of monetary donations to their GoFundMe page to coverage from local news media, Hogan said there has not been a lack in support. Some supporters are Hutch’s Jewelry and Clearview Security Systems (CSS).
“CSS donated ALL of our security systems and needs,” said Hogan.
The Detroit Lions, who awarded Pure Heart recently with a social justice grant, reached back out to Hogan to offer monetary support as well.
“They [Detroit Lions] circled back and re-donated to our cause even after awarding us and wanted to meet immediately,” said Hogan.
While things have been rough for Hogan over the past several weeks, she isn’t lacking in strength to continue her work. In addition to the support from her team at Pure Heart and its board of directors, Hogan has drawn the strength to continue the Pure Heart Scholars or “her babies” as she affectionately calls them.
“My babies gave me the courage to stay and fight back for our purpose,” said Hogan.
As Hogan and her team continue to work on the reopening of the location, she did mention that there is an exit strategy in place if need be.
According to her though, with the support she’s received, that is the furthest from her mind.
“I really feel for the first time that the community has our back,” said Hogan. “We are not in this fight alone.”
To learn more about The Pure Heart Foundation, visit www.pureheartcares.org
Follow Kory Woods on Twitter (@koryewoods)
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