For the kids

Heart of America’s work centers on learning. Communities bring us ideas and call upon our 25+ years of expertise in developing education equity. We’ve renovated nearly 1,400 classrooms, libraries, STEAM labs, college/career centers, school gymnasiums, and community centers. In addition to our space and whole-school makeovers, we have provided resources, including over 4.4 million books, and infused over $14.3 million in technology.

It should go without saying

The quality of an educational environment dramatically impacts a child’s development. Many developmental factors — such as health, housing, and parenting — are recognized as crucial to education, but the physical space is so important that it’s often referred to as a student’s third teacher.

*Sources: 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, The Literacy Project, 2021 Pew Center Survey

Holistic collaboration

 By connecting everything in a young person’s ecosystem — even their out-of-school time — we work to find the right solution to a community’s educational challenges. We learn the need, assess the challenges, and activate partners to transform each space, sometimes in just one day. We’re all about efficiency and efficacy! This includes:

Resource distributions

Supporters select a community to support and engage employees to provide resources such as books and technology to an under-resourced school.

Transformations

Taking a critical look at how a room or area is used currently and how a new design, additional resources, furniture, and technology can create a modern and motivating learning environment.

Consulting

Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all it takes to capture new possibilities! This fee-for-service is ideal for both non-profits and for-profits who may not require a full-scale, traditional engagement with our entire team or have a major funder.

Space that matters

The Heart of America team is an expert in designing vibrant learning spaces. Our model for orchestrating a true community effort incorporates the following six steps:

  • Listen

    Listen to the stakeholders who use, work in, and manage the learning spaces to understand how and why they use it; ask what would elevate their learning and what would make their jobs easier.

  • Inventory

    Catalog current inventory of furniture, technology, art, and materials; who are the users (demographics, languages, occupations, etc.), and who is missing from this space?

  • Observe

    Watch traffic flow and note the types of activities that take place in the library. Where are the active or quiet places? Is the space conducive to multiple kinds of learning styles, both solo and group?

  • Dream

    Think and design big with facility stakeholders and community members, re-imagine new learning environments, create an equipment and resource wish list, and brainstorm and sketch out an ideal space for all users.

  • Build

    Engage local funders, donors, sponsors, and partners who live, work, and grow in the community; utilize local trades, artists, and designers to build the dream.

  • Complete

    Engage volunteers and provide recipients with their brand-new space.

Our latest impact report

Read about our impact and how we better communities with modern learning environments, help with much-needed resources, and how we’ve worked with the Navajo Nation to reimagine youth learning.

Let’s stay in touch

We periodically send updates about projects, industry-related news, and more. We’d love to keep you in the loop!

Packing books resource distribution