History

In September 2004, Our Hearts to Your Soles was founded by Matthew Conti, while a high school student in the North Allegheny School District located near the city of Pittsburgh, with the help of his father Dr. Stephen Conti, an orthopedic surgeon at Allegheny General Hospital.  After volunteering for the summer at Allegheny General Hospital and seeing the problems that can be caused by improper footwear, Matt decided to start a non-profit organization that provides free medical foot screening examinations and shoes to the less fortunate people of the metropolitan Pittsburgh area. Because other programs provided clothing but not shoes to the needy, he saw a great need for their organization.

On February 24, 2006, Our Hearts to Your Soles launched it's first event and was able to shoe approximately forty homeless men at the Light of Life Ministries in the City of Pittsburgh.  Those forty men said that we made their night, and each thanked us with a "God Bless You."  Some walked in wearing a size 9 but needed a size 12 shoe.  Blisters and callouses covered their feet.  We learned that a kind word and a simple pair of shoes can go a long way.

Our Hearts to Your Soles is now taking its cause nationally.  When Matt left Pittsburgh for the University of Notre Dame, the organization became a family affair, and Laura, Matt's sister, rose as the face of the new expanded mission.  The organization's outreach was expanded to include an event the week before Thanksgiving, which involved 35 sites in as many states.  To accomplish this we partnered with Soles4Souls, a charity headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, which supplied the shoes to each site across the country.  Together, Hearts to Soles and Soles4Souls is helping to bring the desperate plight of the needy to the forefront of public awareness.

Our Hearts to Your Soles has a minimal overhead so that as much money as possible can go to completing our mission.  Thanks to the generosity of corporate and individual sponsors we continue to grow and reach out to the poor.  A special thank you is always in order for the physician volunteers from around the country and the other volunteers (including nonmedical adults and teenagers, orthotists, and pedorthists) who selflessly contribute time to these events. Our Hearts to Your Soles is registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and virtually 100% of donations go directly to the people who need it the most.  We are a federal 501(c)3 organization for donation purposes.