Emily Myers, founder and director of Heer to Serve, an advocacy organization for unhoused people on the south side of Columbus, believes in leading with empathy and connection. “You need to gain people’s trust to really be able to serve them,” she said.
Myers’s life experiences have made her attuned to the difficulties unsheltered people face. She learned to advocate at a young age, and now she is using those skills for the community.
“Housing has always been such a huge issue for me, in one way or another, in one household or another,” they said. “When the pandemic hit and life actually slowed down, it was one of those things…why don’t we help these people with immediate needs?”
Myers has been working on-the-ground, in the community for at least eight of her 15 years here, including volunteering at Star House, the Ronald McDonald House, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the YMCA, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. In the last six years she has focused her efforts on unhoused populations around the city. Myers, who also lives on the south side, had been regularly supporting unhoused people there on an individual basis when the pandemic hit. Social services organizations had limited budgets that weren’t adequate to the increased demand. Myers expanded their efforts and pulled in more people to help. “And that’s basically when I started [Heer to] Serve,” she said.
“I started going over to Heer Park. I thought, at least I can do this out of the trunk of my car,” Myers said. She asked family and friends for financial or material donations needed by the people at Heer Park. Myers took pictures of the items and posted them online with thank yous to the donors. Then she organized distribution runs where she would give the items to their recipients and connect with more Heer Park regulars and learn about them. Myers’s work and enthusiasm attracted support and gradually the supplies. Before long, the services went beyond the trunk of their car.
Myers shared her approach to building Heer to Serve’s volunteer base and reach.
“Really make it a community effort, because I think when people feel like they are involved, they’re more willing to do more,” they said. “Anybody who comes to serve, we want them to have conversations with residents, we want them to get to know the find out what similar interests they have maybe they like the same type of books, maybe they like the same kind of music, maybe they have similar interests in some way…It’s to benefit everybody.” In addition to fostering true connections, these interactions can result in work and other opportunities, she added.
The tents and structures at Heer Park were cleared by the city in June. While representatives from Maryhaven, a behavioral health services provider, and Mount Carmel Street Medicine were on site during the demolition, the city had no immediate plans to house those who had been living at the park, which Heer to Serve and other homeless advocates protested.
However, Myers’s work, and that of Heer to Serve, continues. They host “serves” every Saturday at 151 West Williams Road at which a hot meal, non-perishable food, toiletries, menstrual supplies, harm reduction kits, and other necessities are distributed. They also host a regular field trip to Sunlight Laundromat and Dry Cleaners in Grove City. Originally they had tried a location nearer to Heer to Serve’s home base, but they were treated poorly there.
“Even when you can access things, you don’t know what kind of response you’re going to get,” Myers said. Sunlight, however, has been “incredibly generous.” Heer to Serve also coordinates with other organizations including the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, which operates mobile shower units, and the Dream Center. In its two years, Heer to Serve has helped two people get into housing; educated people on their rights so they can advocate for themselves; distributed many meals, necessities and supplies; brought people to a rally for unhoused people at the Statehouse and have found homes for cats at Heer Park. However, Myers said hearing regular attendees connecting and saying they love each other is the highlight. “That’s what’s missing from a lot of organizations: the heart,” Myers said. They feels that the issue of homelessness is often perceived as political, when it shouldn’t be. “It’s not political. This has been politicized over and over again. It’s not political. Housing is a human right.” In the future, Myers would like to see Heer to Serve offer its services on a larger scale, become a registered non-profit, and get their own building on the far south side. Myers is trying to push conversations with the city of Columbus about providing housing on the south side for the unsheltered that can be implemented and used quickly.
Another ongoing goal for Heer to Serve is to reunite families, including parents with their children. Myers recalled a woman at Heer Park whose children came to visit, brought by her ex-husband’s current wife. “She brought them out. That’s amazing,” Myers said. “She said ‘They deserve to see their mother.’”
As for Myer’s own childhood, their father had Friedreich's ataxia, a degenerative neurological disease, which limited his ability to work and actively participate in her childhood. Friedreich's ataxia is a genetic disorder, and Myers has inherited it too.
“When I was nine, he was permanently in a wheelchair,” they said. He had a limited disability income. Myers would help him with everyday tasks, and their family’s decisions were informed by his limited mobility.
Because he used a wheelchair, her father needed first floor apartments, which are in limited supply and are more susceptible to pests.
“You’re always trying to make sure you can clear your doorway, there may be parts of your house that are not even necessarily accessible,” Myers said. “Seeing that definitely always gave me a different perspective.” As she grew and his condition progressed, Myers took on more responsibilities.
“When he was in hospice, literally on his deathbed, his landlord came to visit and asked me for the rent money because it was literally five days late. That has stuck with me for a very, very long time. That was eight years ago, and I don’t think I'll ever forget that for the rest of my life,” Myers said.
That moment stuck with Myers, as she worked to bring supplies and food to those who were unhoused and lacking access to basic necessities. The work led her to realize their central goal is to make new connections or to rebuild old connections.
“How do we work together, to get them back together? How do we make that happen? You have to be patient. It takes time.”
