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Helping The Homeless A Family Affair For Student

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Matt Conti (seen here when he was a senior at North Allegheny High School in 2007) started "Our Hearts to Your Soles" after volunteering at Allegheny General Hospital
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Five years after a local high school student started an organization to provide shoes to the homeless, his efforts have expanded to help nearly 8,000 people in 43 states. Here at home, his family is working together to take the program a few steps farther.

Matt Conti founded "Our Hearts To Your Soles" when he was just a sophomore in high school.

"My oldest started it," Carol Conti told KDKA, "and everybody followed through and just tried to make it bigger and better."

Although Matt is currently studying abroad, his pet project is continuing to grow with the help of his family.

Today alone, as many as 500 men received shoes at Catholic Charities on 9th Street.

Matt's father, Dr. Stephen Conti, is a surgeon at Allegheny General Hospital. He and other physicians provide free foot health screenings and blood pressure checks.

Likewise, Matt's sister, Laura, is contributing as well.

"Those doctors find a shelter nearby," Laura Conti explains, "and then we'll make secondary contact with the shelter and make sure shoes can be stored there and shipped there and everything that needs to happen."

His younger brother, Chris, is also putting his stamp on the family legacy with something he calls "Socks 2 Soles."

"It's basically a part of the charity," Chris Conti adds, "that donates socks to the men because when we went here we found that the biggest problem here was that men needed socks."

For those who receive help, there is nothing like getting a new pair of boots with no strings attached.

"We don't stop until we are out of shoes or until everyone is taken care of," Dr. Conti told KDKA.

To learn more about "Our Hearts To Your Soles," visit HeartsToSoles.com