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Nicholas Calandra ’11 Expands the Reach of a Local Cornerstone Rooted in Service

By Tara Erwin

We have all seen them around Western New York — those ubiquitous red bins encouraging us to donate our gently used clothing, shoes and blankets, with the promise to recycle and restore lives. But did you know that not only is Hearts for the Homeless a thriving nonprofit with several different enterprises helping the region’s underserved population, but the leader behind the organization’s astronomical growth is also a Medaille graduate?

Nicholas A. Calandra ’11, who graduated from Medaille with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2011, is the organization’s current president and CEO. He has been with Hearts for over a decade, and he has helped oversee its evolution from a modest motor home for serving meals to the multi-faceted, community-serving organization it is today.

Hearts for the Homeless now serves Western New York through a mobile soup kitchen, a thrift store, stationary and mobile food pantries, a bottle redemption center and a textile recycling program. There are also future plans for a food pantry express, café and community center to be located in Buffalo’s Riverside neighborhood, where nearly 35% of residents live in poverty.

“I started working with Hearts when I was a student at Medaille,” says Calandra, whose uncle, Ron Calandra, founded the organization in 1990. “I was looking for something to do, and Hearts was an easy drive from Medaille’s campus.”

Hearts for the Homeless is a faith-based organization that feeds and clothes Buffalo’s homeless, poor and underserved communities. It originated under a simple assumption: addressing a person’s most basic need — food — will lead to spiritual nourishment, faith and hope for the future.

“We are committed to being a living example of Christ’s love for others through our service,” says Calandra. “We are out there nourishing the community, physically and spiritually. Providing hope to people is our mission, and food and clothing are conduits of that.”

Civic engagement has always been important to Calandra, who was an Eagle Scout in his youth, as well as a junior firefighter. While spending time at Hearts for the Homeless, he helped with pretty much everything, from emptying the wastebaskets and cleaning the mobile soup kitchen, to ministry outreach and establishing its social media presence.

“It was a great learning opportunity to get to know the organization from the ground up through real-life experience,” he says. “As time went on, I saw more and more ways I could help Hearts grow and how my strengths and capabilities might fit into the organization’s future.”

Due to his uncle’s health issues, Calandra increasingly found himself helping to oversee daily operations. He grew into a leader in the organization, and formally entered the role of CEO in 2019.

Calandra credits his entire experience at Medaille for providing him with the foundation and abilities he now uses to guide Hearts for the Homeless. He cites not only the classes he took, but faculty, staff, internships, school clubs and campus leadership activities, including serving as president of the Student Government Association and being part of the effort to open and manage the student-run Commons Café during his senior year.

“Medaille taught me so much about the business world and the type of leader I wanted to be,” says Calandra. “Working on the campus newspaper, I learned the importance of storytelling and connecting with audiences. While planning the café, I got to collaborate with many different entities, like the operations team, architects and designers. And student government opened a lot of doors for me in terms of gaining access to stakeholders at the school and in the community, especially the media. Now, I am able to directly apply the experiences I had at Medaille to my current role.”

Ironically enough, Calandra was not sure he was going to attend college at all. “College was never a one hundred percent certainty for me,” he says, remembering at the time he felt like higher education was more or less “what society demanded.”

At his parents’ request, Calandra visited a few local schools, including Medaille, where he was immediately struck by its small campus environment, with easily accessible buildings and an intimate, welcoming atmosphere. He remembers feeling like the school was the right fit for him and like he could be a part of what was happening.

“The whole admissions process was so personalized; I never felt like just a number,” he says. “Medaille literally checked off all my boxes, and I told my parents I could see myself there.”

Now, looking back, Calandra is confident in knowing he is exactly where he is supposed to be, thanks to the education and career paths he chose. He recalls an internship he completed at a large company during his time at Medaille. There was an opportunity for a post-graduation position, but he ultimately realized it was not the right fit for him.

“I wanted to feel like the work I was doing was making a difference in people’s lives and serving the community,” he says. “Hearts for the Homeless is it for me.”

Even though Hearts has expanded its presence exponentially under Calandra’s leadership, he credits his uncle’s spark of an idea to recycle clothing as a revenue generator that fanned the flame of the enterprise it is now. The organization currently provides over 500 donation bins throughout Western and Central New York, and operates a 10,000-square-feet warehouse for sorting the donations.

“Recycling textiles has proven to be our most cost-effective way of funding the organization,” he says. “We try to make it as easy as possible for people to donate by putting bins everywhere and in convenient locations.”

Donating items is not only intrinsically rewarding, but it also benefits the environment. It is estimated that about 70 pounds of textiles are thrown out by the average person each year. Hearts strives to offer people a worthwhile alternative. The organization accepts pretty much any type and condition of clothing and household textiles, so long as they are not damp, dirty or have a smell. Items that are in new or likenew condition will find a home at the Hearts Thrift Store on Tonawanda Street in Buffalo.

In addition to the thrift store and textile recycling program, Hearts serves the community by providing nourishment for city residents who are facing food insecurity. Hot meals are served to those in need through a mobile soup kitchen. The organization also provides ways to secure grocery items with dignity through mobile food pantries and the Hearts Harvest Food Pantry, located in a former storefront on Tonawanda Street.

Most of the financial support for these endeavors comes directly from donors and from the textile recycling program. Funds are also now being generated by one of Hearts’ newest ventures — its Redemption Center, located at the Tonawanda Street campus. The center not only gives back 6 cents per bottle or can (rather than the traditional 5 cents) to community members making the return, but Hearts also receives 2.5 cents per bottle, as the processor, which go directly to help fund the organization’s outreach programs.

Future projects in development include the Hearts Food Pantry Express, where a mobile food unit will travel throughout communities in Western New York, and a Hearts Community Center, which will be used for outreach and education on topics such as nutrition, meal planning and financial literacy.

There is no doubt this is an exciting time for Hearts for the Homeless. Nonetheless, Calandra remains humble and credits his success to God and to his wife Chrissy for supporting him in what he says is not a typical 9-to-5 lifestyle.

As the head of an organization based on Christian values, Calandra cannot help being in awe of how everything fell into place. “I believe God has a plan for all of us,” he says. “If you have faith and trust in that plan, it is amazing to see what doors can open.”

There are many ways to support the local community through Hearts for the Homeless, from clothing and financial donations, to volunteering at its food pantry or hosting a food drive. Learn more