Larry Pierce was married to his high school sweetheart for 46 years. After sharing nearly half a century of life with her, he was devastated when she died in 2015. Retired from the sheriff’s office, where he’d worked in corrections, Larry didn’t know what he would do without her.

His friend Richard Waltman thought he could help. He took Larry along on a visit to a homeless camp in the woods in Madison. When some of the people he met there asked him to pray with them, he knew he’d found his calling. “The way they had to live,” he says, was something he’d never seen or really even thought about before. “They didn’t want to make eye contact” because they felt as if they weren’t worthy.

But Larry didn’t believe that at all. He had to do something, so he and Richard teamed up with Angie McElyea to start a nonprofit group, Hearts for Homeless, whose 3,000 members – “the true heroes,” Larry says – provide donations of supplies and money. “If God provided, we would provide. So far, He hasn’t denied anything.”

Larry and Angie are based in Athens, while Richard works out of Madison. Two or three times per week, they take food, water and supplies into the two major camps located in the woods in Madison, with shanties and lean-tos providing a semblance of shelter for some 40 men and women who have learned to trust them.

“We call them ‘the invisible people of the woods,'” Larry says. Most residents of Athens and Madison are unaware that there are homeless people in their area because they exist unseen for the most part. “We’re one of the few groups that can actually go into a camp,” he says. “If you lose their trust, you won’t be back in the camp.”

Larry, who recently lost 55 pounds by “never slowing down,” has missed a few of his regular trips to the camp because of a bad knee. “They’ve messaged Angie checking on me,” he says. “I appreciate them. I hate the situation they’re in. They have helped me since my wife passed away.”

In addition to those camps, there are a few other “straggler” camps where people live who might be experiencing PTSD or, for whatever reason, prefer to live alone. The group provides them with sleeping bags and tents when possible. Recently, organizers held a huge indoor yard sale to raise money for propane to provide heat and other supplies for homeless individuals during the winter months. The sale raised more than $4,500.

Hearts for Homeless also helps homeless people obtain ID cards and licenses. If a homeless person is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, the group also helps them into a three-month rehabilitation program at The Salvation Army in Birmingham.

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They do practice tough love, though, and if someone drops out of the program, “they have to make their way back,” Larry says. Once returned to Limestone or Madison County, Hearts for Homeless helps them find jobs.

Their success stories include “Chicago,” a former alcoholic and drug user, and her boyfriend, “Catfish,” who are now living in their own apartment, with jobs. “Those are the ones you really look forward to helping,” Larry says.

He connected with another couple who were living on the street and hungry. She was pregnant, and he was disabled. Angie, who specializes in working with women, stepped in to help. “She’s got a big heart,” he says of his colleague.

Larry and Angie were there when the couple’s baby was born. “Meet Angela,” the man said when he introduced them to the baby named for Angie. They now live in their own trailer.

“Purdue Mike,” who earned a degree in electronics and reads 600 words per minute, became homeless because “he couldn’t handle the pressures of everyday work,” Larry says. “Now he changes tractor tires for a company and is happy as can be doing that.”

Sometimes, despite their efforts, they come across some folks they just can’t help. In the case of one veteran, they secured an apartment for him, but he was overwhelmed by the rules he would have to follow and opted not to move in.

Still, Larry says, “They bless us more than we bless them. Our motto is ‘The forgotten shall be forgotten no more.’ Helping them keeps us humble and focused on what we’re blessed with.”

To make a donation to Hearts for Homeless, go to paypal.me/TheCouponPatrol or use Cash App ID $heartsforhomeless. The mailing address is Hearts For Homeless, P.O. Box 323, Athens, AL 35612.