We recently connected with Giovanna Andrews and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Giovanna , thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

Harper’s Heart was founded by 2019 Jefferson Award recipient Giovanna Andrews, in August of 2018. Its effort, was to improve the services given to mothers in need. Her motivation for this non-profit was her experience with her pregnancy and the community support she received. Through getting the help she needed, she wanted to create an organization that focused on welcoming new and expecting moms in need. Giovanna’s experience showed flaws in some social services and she became determined to change how people are treated when seeking out help. “They should be greeted with a smile, open arms, listening ears, and a genuine heart.”, as fervently expressed by our founder. It’s mission is to redefine social services and focus on expecting mothers and those with children age ranging from 0-24 months old. Redefining what it means to be a social service organization and leading with our heart. Changing ways in which families receive services and how they feel about themselves. Meeting families where they are and from there, building them up. Connecting with families, creating rich bonds and helping our neighbor is the foundation of our mission.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Giovanna A. Andrews is the founder & CEO of Harper’s Heart, a nonprofit organization serving the needs of mother with children age 0-24 months old. Founded in 2018, just shy of 6 months after giving birth to her daughter Isabella Harper. Andrews created this organization to bridge the gap of accessibility to vital essentials for mothers in need. Andrews has fostered relationships and partnered with organizations such as Medela, AmeriHealth DE, Evenflo and the Kenny Family Foundation to name a few. Her work has been recognized both locally and nationally, most recently appearing on the Kelly Ripa & Ryan Secrest show. As well as, given the prestigious Jefferson Award in 2019. Andrews has dedicated her life’s work to redefining social service. Her work makes it possible for women to experience motherhood with comfort, love and ease.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Harper’s Heart started as a “passion project” of mine, I saw where there were gaps that needed to be filled in my community. Named after my daughter, Isabella Harper, I decided I wanted to do something even if it was small to help impact my community. I started by hosting free diaper/baby item giveaways in the community. I would canvas my network and ask for small donations of $10-$20 to put the programs on. We gained a large following in the Wilmington, DE area of supporters and clients to service. From there we received local and national spotlights, on 6ABC, WHYY, Philadelphia Inquire, Delaware News Journal, CBS3, Townsquare Delaware, and the Kelly & Ryan Show. Harper’s Heart also received awards for our work from The Jefferson’s Award and Governors Volunteer of the Year. Upon receiving these national recognitions we began gaining supporters from across the country! This was our push to seek supporters from foundations in our area in order to build more capital to continue to push our organization to newer heights. Our pivotal moment included receiving six grants from foundations in 2022 that allowed us to move to a new office, expand programming and add additional programming. As we enter into year five, we have provided thousands of dollars worth of baby essentials, resources and educations to many families in our area. We have went from asking neighbors for a couple of dollars to receiving donations from across the country. Harper’s Heart humbly began in the summer of 2018, in my mama’s living room and just recently featured in the November 2022 Edition of Woman’s Day Magazine. Our growth, supporters and the need I see in the community is what motivated me to turn a passion project of mine into my lifetime career.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think what helped build our reputation was our relatability to the community we service. My journey to motherhood was unconventional and I really struggled in my most vulnerable time. I have been very transparent about my story and what lead me to starting Harper’s Heart. With that, we have built a safe and open space of trust between the organization and the clients. They know we are “family” and often they call me an Auntie to their children. I am blessed to be an under 30 year old, Black woman leader and be able to touch the lives of so many families from so many backgrounds. Harper’s Heart serves mothers from all different racial, gender, social-economic background and we are extremely proud of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.harpersheart.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harpers_heart/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarpersHeartOrg/
• Other: Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/11244MYTZH8J?ref_=wl_share