Heart on Main Street: Restoring Hope One Store at a Time

This article is part of a campaign sponsored by Heart on Main Street an organization that provides disaster recovery grants and hands-on support to help independent retailers reopen faster and rebuild stronger.

When a natural disaster strikes, most people think about homes lost, roads washed away, and families displaced. But there’s another heartbreaking consequence that doesn’t always make the headlines, the silent shuttering of Main Street businesses.

These are the locally owned boutiques, bookstores, toy shops, and hardware stores that give a community its character, its heartbeat. And when disaster strikes, their survival often hangs by a thread.

Heart on Main Street, a nonprofit based in Atlanta, is dedicated to ensuring that these vital businesses don’t disappear when tragedy strikes. They help independent retailers not only survive disaster, but rebuild stronger.

Why Main Street Matters

Founded by Executive Director Patrick Keiser in 2022, Heart on Main Street exists because they believe in the power of local. When independent retailers thrive, entire communities flourish.

Local stores:

• Hire local workers.
• Source products from local artisans.
• Contract local service providers.
• Reinvest 68¢ of every dollar back into their local economy.

Compare that to only 14¢ at national chain stores.

These businesses aren’t just economic engines. They’re community gathering spaces, landmarks, and legacy. A toy store passed down through generations. A bookstore that knows your name. A boutique that sponsors your kid’s soccer team.

And yet, over 40% of small businesses affected by a natural disaster never reopen their doors. Not because they weren’t profitable. But because no one was there to help them back up.

That’s where Heart on Main Street comes in.

Disaster Relief for Main Street

In their very first year, they saw firsthand what happens when help doesn’t come fast enough. Hurricane Ian devastated Florida’s Gulf Coast, and while national agencies rushed to help homeowners, Main Street businesses were left behind, abandoned by the spotlight, buried under insurance red tape, and left to recover on their own.

“These businesses are the soul of a town,” says Keiser. “And yet, when disaster strikes, there’s often no plan for them. No safety net. No one to help. We can be that for them.”

Through their disaster relief efforts, they provide:

• Emergency grants to help businesses replace inventory, equipment, or signage.
• Free educational resources to help navigate insurance claims and rebuild stronger and more resilient.
• Volunteer rebuild projects to repair damage to the store and get it ready to reopen

They’ve helped businesses reopen in Chimney Rock and Asheville, NC, after historic flooding, in Temple, TX, after tornadoes, and in towns across the Midwest and Gulf Coast.

Why Heart on Main Street Needs You

They are a grassroots organization. They are small but mighty. And they’re growing fast because the need is growing faster.

Heart on Main Street runs on donations from individuals who believe in local. People like you, who understand that when Main Street is gone, it doesn’t just affect storefronts. It affects lives. It affects futures.

Your donation helps:

• A single mom reopen the store that supports her family.
• A multi-generational business stay in the family.
• A rural community regain its economic anchor.

Donations to their disaster relief fund go directly to helping impacted retailers. Every dollar helps them close the gap between devastation and hope.

Help Us Keep the Heart Beating

The next disaster is not a matter of if, it’s when. And when it happens, Heart on Main Street wants to be there, ready to help the next Main Street stand back up.

But they can’t do it without you.

Whether you're a major donor, a foundation, or someone who simply believes in the power of local, your contribution matters. It’s not just a donation—it’s a declaration that Main Streets matter. That people matter. That hope matters.

Visit heartonmainstreet.org to make your tax-deductible gift today.

Together, we can restore what matters most.