CINCINNATI - An estimated 10,655 Ohioans are currently experiencing homelessness according to a report done by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And that’s why organizations across the state are doing all they can to help those in need.

Just recently, Miranda Heard made chili from her family recipe. For as long as she could remember, she has loved cooking. It was all inspired by her grandmother. 

“My grandmother, she used to feed any and everybody,” said Heard. “If you were a friend of the family, Miss Pearl was going to feed you.”

The chili she’s preparing is for homeless people in downtown Cincinnati. Every month, Heard cooks up a particular meal to give to them. Recently, she cooked chili because she said it’s heavy and fulfilling.

“Chili on a cold day will warm your body,” she said. 

Heard is the founder of Praise These Hands, an organization she started in 2016 after she experienced homelessness. This is her way of giving back. She says it was her faith that got her through the hard times.

“I had the Lord with me,” she said. “He took me there. He told me he got me and look at me now.”

Recently dropped off boxes of food to Santa Maria Community Services helps feed the community. Each box has enough non-perishable food to help feed a family.  

She chose this particular organization after the director said the families were in need.

“She said those families live paycheck to paycheck and every little bit helps and I wanted to help,” she said. 

She donated more than a dozen boxes of food and will soon head home to begin cooking again. It's what she does every month. She says giving back to those struggling with what she went through makes her joyful. 

“I’ve been there, so I know,” she said. “I used to go to pantries and it helped me.”

From November to December, Heard will be raising money to give gifts to neighborhood kids this holiday season.