The Warm Hearth Foundation

Founded in 1974, Warm Hearth Village is a comprehensive nonprofit retirement community located in the heart of Blacksburg, VA. Today, Warm Hearth Village is home to nearly 600 residents spread among our various levels of living and care, including our active adult community and other areas of independent living, assisted living, short-term skilled nursing, memory care, and even home health services. 

 Micah's Program Help Seniors In Need

Despite being a pillar in the New River Valley for 45 years, many are still unaware that Warm Hearth Village offers HUD-subsidized housing for seniors on low, fixed monthly incomes. In fact, these individuals account for one-third of our resident population. In 2012, the Warm Hearth Foundation, in Partnership with St. Michael Lutheran Church, began a program to help combat food insecurity on our campus. After successfully implementing Micah’s Backpack for school-aged children, St. Michael Lutheran expanded its efforts to address the issue of hunger facing the senior population. The new program was dubbed, Micah’s Soup for Seniors.

In a matter of months the Micah’s Soup for Seniors Program grew to serve 100 households each month. This program provides a shelf-stable grocery distribution on the last Tuesday of each month, and is available to all seniors residing in our HUD-subsidized apartments. With the success of Soup for Seniors, we began to look for opportunities to address and meet additional challenges and needs facing these residents. Over the last 10 years, our Micah’s Program has grown beyond Micah’s Soup for Seniors and now includes fresh produce, prepared meals, personal care items, household cleaning supplies, pet food, and an on-campus pantry at which residents can access these items. Last year we provided over 80,000 pounds of food and more than $215,000 in basic necessities to those in need on our campus through the Micah’s Program. It is thanks to our generous donors that we are able to not only sustain this program, but add to it as new needs are identified within our resident population.