Shepherd’s Heart benefits those in need, but inflation has taken a toll
One of the area’s go-to relief organizations aiding those in crisis could use a little help of its own — funding, food and volunteers, organizers said.
Last year alone, Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry and Community Ministries distributed three quarters of a million pounds of food, but the number of people needing help is always growing, said Loretta Masters, executive director.
“In 2023, on average, we served 1,710 families a month, and in 2024, it was right over 2,000,” she said. “We can’t do that without funding, and we can’t do that without food drives, and people helping us do it because demand is not slowing down.”
“We need food, we need funds, we need volunteers,” she added. “Inflation has hit us, too, while we have had an increase of families. But we are happy to have the opportunity to serve the community.”
Officials said the organization’s aid efforts cannot be praised enough.
Whenever Victim Services Coordinator Priscilla Moreno encounters a client or a family in crisis through her work with the Taylor Police Department, she knows she can always turn to the nonprofit for assistance.
“Shepherd’s Heart helps with everything a victim needs,” Moreno said. “This includes utility assistance because an abuser left the house, and they were the breadwinner, or they need help with a mortgage for a month or two, or ‘Hey we need a train ticket,’ or ‘We need gas cards’ or ‘We need food.’” What began decades earlier as a small food pantry operated by churches through the Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance has steadily grown into Eastern Williamson County’s largest provider of food, clothing and emergency shelter, officials said.
On a monthly basis, Shepherd’s Heart distributes an average of about 65,000 pounds of food to more than 2,000 households, as well as financial assistance to more than 300 families for shelter, rent and mortgage payments, utilities and other needs during 2024, Masters said.
“Area hospitals call us whenever someone doesn't have a place to go, and they have been in the hospital for two or three weeks, and they need them to go to another place, so they can continue to take their medicine and get well,” Masters said.
Masters said these kinds of requests happen several times a year.
In addition, Moreno said Shepherd’s Heart also coordinates with the Police Department to provide hotel rooms for homeless individuals during extreme heat or cold snaps year-round, or even clothing, furniture and essential funds to people left stranded during a disaster, as funding allows.
Masters said Shepherd’s Heart is a massive operation, with nearly 100 volunteers working on site six days a week to prepare for three-times-a-week drivethrough food distribution along Porter Street, and at its thrift store at 121 E. Second St.
TAMA President Jeff Ripple, who serves as a liaison for providing emergency shelter and is also a police chaplain, echoed this.
“Shepherd’s Heart has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars putting people up, and that’s not an exaggeration,” Ripple said. “It’s a lot of money.”
Organization leaders said Shepherd’s Heart is partially supported through its shop, as well as area churches, local businesses, community fundraisers and small grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and United Way.
“God has always provided for Shepherd’s Heart,” said Ripple, who is also the pastor of Christ Fellowship Church. “And Shepherd’s Heart has been a tremendous blessing to this community as a result.”
In addition, building owners Keith and Martha Hagler have provided the space for the food pantry, the thrift shop and classes to obtain a GED diploma rent-free since 2016, Masters said.
Meanwhile, board member Cheryl Cornelius said through these ministries — from distributing food on a drive-through line to providing prayers and other help during an emergency — Shepherd’s Heart continues to show the local community God’s love.
“We want to make sure that they feel that Christ has been a part of that transaction,” Cornelius said. “We don’t try to make them have to go to anybody’s church. We are just trying to be the hands and feet out there.”
“God is in charge of this,” Masters added. “He is making all of this happen.”
To learn more or to help, visit shepherdshearttaylor. org/.
