Mission From the Heart volunteers and founder Shelby Brown (fourth from left), surrounded by donations for distribution to local homeless youth (Photo by Jay Paul)
Growing up in Williamsburg, Shelby Brown witnessed her grandmother Eva Strong’s giving spirit in action every time the elderly woman baked a pan of her signature rolls.
“When my Nana lived with us, she’d start making her rolls early, and the whole house would smell like heaven all day long,” says Brown, a veteran broadcast journalist who has spent 16 years in front of the camera as a reporter at Richmond’s WTVR CBS 6. By day’s end, Brown says, she and her siblings — five sisters and seven brothers — would be nearly salivating for a taste of the hot, homemade bread.
“We just knew we’d get to eat them, but at dinner time, sometimes Nana would say, ‘Take these rolls up the road to Sister So and So’s house, she’s been sick.’ Or, if there were a bunch of our friends at the house, Nana would share those rolls with everybody. She was a very giving person.”
Brown inherited that giving spirit from her grandmother and her mother, Evelyn Brown, who provided her children with a foundation of faith. Brown has spent nearly two decades in front of the camera, but her first experiences in the spotlight were at church.
“Mama was always volunteering me for something,” Brown says, smiling. “If somebody was supposed to give the morning greeting, say, but didn’t show up, my mom would stand up right in the middle of church: ‘Pastor, Shelby can do that,’ pointing to me. That definitely taught me how to pull words together quickly, and get comfortable with people listening to me speak.”
The qualities that Brown picked up in her youth — her genuine concern for others, her generosity and her willingness to speak up and out for people who can’t — have served her well in her career. Her values also inspire her children, daughter Mycah, 12, and son Daniel Jr., 11, whom she is raising with her husband of 14 years, Daniel McDowney (like many television personalities, Brown opts to use her full name, Shelby Brown McDowney, off screen). Those same values fuel her new organization’s purpose.
At its core, Mission From the Heart is “an outreach program to aid homeless children and teens, and support the teachers and counselors who see and work with these youth every day in their schools, and want to help them directly,” says Brown.
If your child is enrolled at a public school in the counties of Henrico or Chesterfield, or in the city of Richmond, there’s a chance one of their classmates is homeless. This means they may be living in a transitional shelter, in a vehicle, in a hotel or in another public place that reflects a “lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,” as defined by the William & Mary School of Education’s initiative Project HOPE - Virginia. A program dedicated to the education of homeless youth, Project HOPE reports that in the 2016-17 school year, there were at least 715 homeless students in Chesterfield schools, 986 in Henrico schools and 1,394 in the city of Richmond’s school system. Brown’s Mission From the Heart partners with local businesses and organizations to supply these children with bags stuffed with toiletries and clothing, personalized to each one’s size, needs and preferences. Brown then hauls the bags to the schools, where teachers, principals or school counselors may distribute them directly to students in need.
“Another thing I have learned in my work over the years is that, sometimes, it takes too long for people to get help through the Department of Social Services or other agencies,” says Brown. “I’m not saying those places are bad; I’m saying if a kid needs a coat now, he needs a coat now. There’s no time to wait, to fill out a lot of paperwork, to go back and forth somewhere to try and get help. He needs a coat now, today. So our goal is to make that coat or whatever these kids need available immediately, because sometimes they do not even have a roof over their heads, much less a coat or toiletries.”
“My goal for Mission From the Heart, my goal in my work and in my personal life is the same: I always want to help people who need help, whenever I can, however I can.” —Shelby Brown
Mission From the Heart’s brand of swift action to help area homeless children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds is a welcome resource for educators, says RaShawn Smith-Bolar, a school counselor at Fairfield Middle School in Henrico County. Having worked in Henrico’s school system for 18 years, Smith-Bolar says there are over 30 homeless students at Fairfield alone.
“Some of our kids need resources, their parents need economic assistance. Back in September, Shelby reached out to me about how Mission From the Heart could help, and I was excited about the opportunity,” says Smith-Bolar. Since that time, Mission From the Heart volunteers have donated dozens of items to students in need at the school. Although state privacy policies prevent Brown and her volunteers from ever meeting the students they help face to face, Smith-Bolar says their collaborative effort helps them provide the kids with necessities that reflect their personal tastes.
“Shelby asked if I could get the [clothing] sizes of the youth, so she could put together bags for each of them. We have been meeting with these homeless students at school to get their sizes, and get an idea of what they like concerning fashion taste, so [Brown and Mission From the Heart volunteers] could get what they like. They are doing it in a very thoughtful, caring way.”
Smith-Bolar anticipates a long relationship with Mission From the Heart, and says she and Brown have brainstormed about creating a small clothes closet at the school, so students can snap up a pair of jeans, a sweater or gloves whenever the need arises.
Years of meeting families in Central Virginia living in extreme poverty, and witnessing the impact economic hardship had on children in these families, inspired Brown to start her work by founding Mission From the Heart nearly two years ago, she says.
“It is not possible for me to just go cover these stories, do the reporting on a family that is having a really hard time financially, see the kids suffering, and then just walk away when we shut the camera off. I knew I had to do something more.”
As a rule, journalists try not to get too close to the story. But Brown’s bosses encourage her Mission From the Heart work, and say Brown’s off-camera efforts reflect the passion and purpose she infuses into her daily, on-camera work.
“Our mission is community, and Shelby embodies that,” says Stephen Hayes, who has been general manager at WTVR since 2001. “We stand behind Shelby, and whatever she’s doing, because we know she’s doing it for the benefit of our community.”
The group also helps local families in need. In late September, Brown learned of a local mother and her four young daughters forced into homelessness after fleeing domestic violence. The Mission From the Heart team quickly bought clothing and supplies for the family; in partnership with Brown’s group, Richmond’s EnVogue Hair Salons treated the ladies to full hair makeovers, at no cost.
“The girls were so excited, they loved the clothes. And the mom, you could just see the relief in her eyes. It boosted their confidence, and now the young ladies will be able to focus better at school,” says Brown. Mission From the Heart is currently hosting a supply collection drive in partnership with local businesses; see the group’s Facebook page to learn how to get involved.
It is strange to hear someone who has spent half her life in front of TV cameras say, “Put yourself in the background. The focus should not be on you.” But it is a message that Brown never forgets.
“My goal for Mission From the Heart, my goal in my work and in my personal life is the same: I always want to help people who need help, whenever I can, however I can.”
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