Hearts Of Fire Lights Up Christmas Show...

Here we are at the One Of A Kind Christmas Show in Ventura! We had a great corner spot at this 3-day event and met a lot of great people. This was the first time for this show and they plans to make it an annual event. We sold greeting cards and art prints as well items provided by local merchants and artists. Our friend, Yudit Ecsedy displayed some of her amazing “angel” art as well hand-made leather cell...

Art Programs Flourish On Skid Row...

Lillian & Student This past week, I had the privilege of visiting with two powerful art programs on Skid Row in Los Angeles that are empowering the people from the neighborhood. The SRO Art Workshop and the Lamp Community Art Project have been working with homeless and low income folks for years, persisting and flourishing despite a lack of resources. The success of these programs is attributable to the people who...

RV Rehab Program Launch!...

Home On Wheels Look at this beautiful 27-ft, 1985 Suncrest RV! Thanks to our friend Ed from Newbury Park, CA, this RV will soon be home to a local family. We are launching the RV Rehab Program with this donated vehicle.  This baby runs great and has only 60K miles on it. However, it needs some interior systems work. It is very roomy inside and sleeps up to eight people! We are looking for volunteers to help us get this...

The Experience Of A Life Time...

We traveled from Ojai to San Francisco to participate in Homeless Connect Day at Bill Graham Auditorium on October 28. Although we knew it was a big event, we really had no idea how it would go. After a frantic week of last-minute fund raising, we were finally posed to go. On October 27 at 6AM, I chugged down to Ventura to pick up Jillian – an amazing woman and supporter who came along to lead the art workshop...

San Francisco Here We Come!...

We are heading out to San Francisco to participate in the annual Homeless Connect Day on October 28 at Bill Graham Auditorium. More than 1,500 homeless people are expected to participate. We will be holding an art workshop for as many people as we can accommodate. We have a great team in place for this event and the excitement is almost out of control! We will be leaving from our base in Ojai in our RV  on the morning...

Art Show Success...

Art Show In Progress On Saturday, August 22, we exhibited 60 pieces of art at the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura.  The art work was created by the people at the homeless shelters we have visited.  In addition, we screened the documentary film of our tour. The event was simply amazing. A small but enthusiastic crowd attended and everyone enjoyed the art work and the film. I talked about the status and my vision for the...

Success At The Ventura County Fair!...

Diane, David, Jill, Mary and Bill We had a blast at the fair and exceeded all of our expectations. During the 11 days and nights we were there, more than 306,000 people were exposed to the Hearts Of Fire Project.  Because we were positioned right next to the fair entrance, we were the first thing people saw when they arrived and the last when they left. As a result, we spread our message far and wide and spoke with many...

Who Are We?...

Here is a picture. Guess where it was taken? No, it is not it is the capital of an African country, or in India or Asia. It is a picture of a street in downtown Los Angeles. Yes, this is what THIS country looks like today. The guy with the cart is Andy Bales from the Union Rescue Mission and he is literally rescuing people who need water to survive. We don’t need to scour the world for people that need help. All...

News...

Bob Ballard So much is happening, I haven’t had a chance to let you know about it! Here is the latest. Memorial Service I performed two of my original songs at a Memorial Service on Friday, July 24 at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall, 112 W. Cabrillo Blvd in Santa Barbara. More than 300 people attended the service to honor the 17 homeless people who died on the streets in Santa Barbara this year, many of them under...

Hearts Of Fire Project Enters Global Competition...

Press Release For Immediate Release June 8, 2009 Hearts Of Fire Project Competes to Win GlobalGiving’s “American Open” Challenge Local nonprofit has chance to receive short and long term “economic stimulus” for empowering homeless people via innovative online marketplace for philanthropy Ojai, CA – The Hearts Of Fire Project today joined GlobalGiving’s American Open, a fundraising challenge...