Bridgewater mom's non-profit 'exploded' with donations to help foster, homeless kids

BRIDGEWATER — "There are way more homeless children, even just in Bridgewater, than I ever thought there were," Bridgewater mom Amanda Durante said.

In the last few months, 33-year-old Durante said she has gathered clothing donations for three dozen homeless children in the Bridgewater and Brockton area.

Her donation was made possible because of her efforts through her non-profit — The Wandering Heart Project.

It all started with her friend, Franklin resident Samantha Nurmenniemi, who is a social worker.

In September 2020, another social worker reached out to Nurmenniemi and asked if she knew any resources for foster children in need of new clothing on behalf of a woman she was working with.

When Nuremenniemi found out that the resources she knew of were too far away for the woman in need to travel, she started collecting children's clothes in her house, getting donations from friends and family.

That's when she called Durante to see if she could donate. Instead of just donating, Durante suggested that the two of them should start a non-profit together to help children both in the Franklin and Bridgewater area, and Nuremenniemi agreed.

The pair came up with the name for their organization that night, and two days later, they posted on Facebook to start gathering donations.

"It exploded within the first week," Durante said. "Hundreds of donations, over 1,000 followers, and people were messaging us like crazy and donating."

He's been there: Homeless Brockton teen turns into software engineer who raps on the side

Since then, Durante and Nuremenniemi have been collecting thousands of incoming donations at their houses.

"In the first couple weeks, we were up to over 1,000 clothing donations," Durante said. "Both our houses were completely packed, which our husbands loved, of course."

Since the beginning, the pair has also expanded their mission from just helping foster kids to also helping homeless children, after discovering it was a big issue in the area.

The process of donation starts with sorting the clothes. Durante said they only take high quality, new or barely used clothing, and donate the rest to other organizations.

They also have to sort out clothes that have words like "mom," "dad," "brother," and "grandma" on them because often these children don't have those family members.

Then, Durante and Nuremenniemi create five to seven outfits based on the wants and needs of the children they are donating to. The pair finds families in need through local public schools, local police, social workers, social service organizations and through the families themselves who reach out to them.

Each donation also includes underwear, socks, toiletries and a suitcase or duffle bag, as well as winterwear in the winter and a swimsuit in the summer.

"A lot of foster kids unfortunately go into these homes with just trash bags," Durante said.

So far, Durante said, The Wandering Heart Project has helped about 500 children, from newborns to young adults, in the South Shore.

Durante said she and Nuremenniemi have spent a significant portion of their personal funds on the non-profit, but they do also collect money for the non-profit, as well as donations of suitcases.

The Wandering Heart Project also recently received $2,500 from Jordan's Furniture as part of a holiday giveaway to local non-profits.

If you'd like to help The Wandering Heart Project and its mission to clothe foster and homeless children, visit wanderingheartproject.org to learn how you can donate money, clothes, suitcases and more.

Enterprise staff writer Susannah Sudborough can be reached by email at ssudborough@enterprisenews.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @k_sudborough. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Bridgewater Wandering Heart: Non-profit helps foster, homeless kids