Meet HNL

Who we are

HNL is a project based non-profit organization committed to helping people in our community “level up”. From big needs like reliable transportation to small ones like help with the heating bill, we leverage our time and talent to spread kindness and make a measurable impact.  We’re different from the way traditional nonprofits work in that we don't have a narrowly focused subject matter. We want to be flexible enough to get involved when we see the need. HNL wants to make a substantial improvement for our customers then make a return on donor’s investment by sharing stories of success. We'd rather focus our time and talent on a single project at a time where we can make a big splash rather than spread our efforts thin. 

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Since we started, HNL's focus has always been on giving real help to those who need it. 2022 was a great year for that. We started 2022 with some plumbing help to get water service restored for a family who'd been delt a massive blow. When the plumbers arrived, they found a serous mold problem. It took a bit of time but the remediation and service restoration was a perfect use case for the kind of work we want to be involved in....being in the spot to help when help is needed. We love to show appreciation for the professionals doing the important work in our community. We showed love to the teachers at Maggie Brown Middle and rented the Refugee Coffee Co. truck to serve each of the Fayette County School's Nutrition Team. Shoutout to our partners at DFCS who know we have the flexibility to act quickly when needed. We teamed up with them a couple times this year. From back to school clothes to a local mom's car needing repair, DFCS keeps us at the top of the list when they have those special requests. We also love our partners at I58 mission! We've loved going there to deliver back to school supplies, snacks, and keeping our Dignity Store well stocked. Speaking of The Dignity Store, I cannot even count the numbers of deodorant, toothpaste, lotion, shampoo, and soap units we've moved across all five of our locations. These small products are offering real help to kids and adults who need them. Our newest location at The Pioneer Center in Hogansville has been another partnership we're glad to have. In addition to the Dignity Store, The Pioneer Center needed some help with a Christmas tree and a family whose kids were sleeping on the floor. Thanks to Verlo for helping us get them into five brand new beds and a bunk bed. Verlo has been so nice to us for many years. Please support them if you need a mattress! We love to answer the call when we can and sometimes the requests are a bit unorthodox. Totally in our wheelhouse. One teacher sent us an email asking if we could help with transportation costs for her class. They wanted to go to Fernbank but there were too few kids who could afford the transportation cost. We handled it. The Scholastic Book Fairy project was similar. We hated the idea of kids sitting in their classroom while their peers went to the book fair. Shoutout to Huddleston Elementary for identifying the kids who needed help and getting them in the library that day. Thanks to everyone who showed up to the It's not about you Christmas event and the countless bags stuffed, snacks created, and care cards signed. Some of those cards went into our Southland Nursing Home bags and the residents there got to feel the love. Finally, earlier in the year an HNLien let us know about a young man who was kicked out of his house and had to go to a homeless shelter in Atlanta. We don't know the circumstances which led to this, but it really didn't change how we behaved. He had the wherewithal to apply to college and we picked up a laptop for him to use. He needed a cell phone to communicate as well. After a short time at the shelter, he learned that he could stay in the college dorm over the summer if we helped with the rent. He's kept in touch throughout his first semester and really glad to report he got straight As and is starting college with a 4.0. This is due to the work he did and his commitment to taking advantage of this opportunity. His story is a great example of something we encounter quite a bit. Uncertainty. It feels like we're always seeking the perfect story of need to help out. It never seems to work out like that. People find themselves in messy situations or the circumstances are not fully understood. We should still help because it's the right thing to do. I'm not suggesting we offer ourselves to be taken advantage of. We should help when we can because if we wait for the perfect situation to come along, we'll be waiting forever. It's not always pretty but as long as we're doing it for the right reasons, it's always good.