workshopStories From The Sole
Your story. Your shoes. Your sole.
Our signature Heartkicks experience uses sneaker restoration, storytelling, and creative expression to explore identity, resilience, and personal meaning.
- Storytelling
- Identity
- Reflection
- Creativity
- Connection
Stories From The Sole
Every shoe carries a story.
Participants reflect on the experiences that have shaped them while transforming a pair of shoes into a canvas for their story. Available as a 1–2 hour workshop, Stories From the Sole introduces participants to the connection between creativity, storytelling, and emotional wellness.
Focus
- Storytelling
- Identity
- Reflection
- Creativity
- Connection
immersion programStories From The Sole: VIVID
A deeper journey into the stories that shape us.
VIVID is Heartkicks' multi-week experience exploring identity, self-leadership, and connection through the 8 Cs.
- Self Leadership
- Identity
- Emotional Wellness
- Creativity
- Connection
Stories From The Sole: VIVID
A deeper journey into the stories that shape us.
VIVID is Heartkicks' multi-week experience exploring identity, self-leadership, and connection through the 8 Cs: Curiosity, Compassion, Calm, Clarity, Confidence, Courage, Creativity, and Connectedness. Through sneaker restoration, storytelling, creative expression, and group dialogue, participants explore not only where they've been, but how they want to show up in the stories still being written.
Focus
- Self Leadership
- Identity
- Emotional Wellness
- Creativity
- Connection
WorkshopIn My Father's Footsteps
What did we inherit? What will we leave behind?
An intergenerational experience exploring fatherhood, masculinity, identity, and legacy through storytelling, reflection, and creative expression.
- Fatherhood
- Masculinity
- Legacy
- Identity
- Connection
In My Father's Footsteps
Exploring what we inherit and what we choose to carry forward.
In My Father's Footsteps creates space to explore fatherhood, masculinity, identity, and legacy through storytelling, reflection, and creative expression. Participants examine the lessons, relationships, expectations, and experiences that have shaped their understanding of fatherhood and masculinity while considering what they want to carry forward, redefine, or leave behind.
Focus
- Fatherhood
- Masculinity
- Legacy
- Identity
- Connection
immersionSole Proprietor Innovation Lab
From creativity to ownership.
Sole Proprietor introduces young people to entrepreneurship through sneaker culture and creative enterprise.
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial Literacy
- Branding
- Creativity
- Ownership
Sole Proprietor Innovation Lab
Design it. Build it. Own it.
Sole Proprietor introduces young people to entrepreneurship through sneaker culture and creative enterprise. Participants move from restoring and customizing shoes to developing a brand, exploring marketing and pricing, and bringing their creations to market. The experience builds practical business skills while encouraging creativity, financial literacy, confidence, and ownership.
Focus
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial Literacy
- Branding
- Creativity
- Ownership
Community ActivationCommunity Soles
Restoring more than shoes.
Community Soles brings Heartkicks beyond the workshop and into community through shoe restoration, distribution, service, and relationship building.
- Community
- Dignity
- Access
- Service
- Mutual Care
Community Soles
From the heart. In community. For the sole.
Community Soles brings Heartkicks beyond the workshop and into community through shoe restoration, distribution, service, and relationship building. We partner with communities to expand access to quality footwear while creating opportunities for people to contribute their time, creativity, and care to one another. Community Soles is grounded in dignity and mutual care. Rather than defining communities by what they lack, we recognize the strengths, stories, and relationships already present and seek opportunities to show up alongside them.
Skid Row Community Engagement
Heartkicks restores and distributes quality footwear in partnership with people and organizations within the Skid Row community, using shoes as an opportunity for connection, conversation, dignity, and care.
Back to School & Seasonal Giving
Heartkicks partners with schools and community organizations to provide restored and new footwear to young people and families during back-to-school and holiday seasons, helping communities step into important moments with confidence.
Focus
- Community
- Dignity
- Access
- Service
- Mutual Care
community activationSoles of Resistance
Wear what you stand for.
Soles of Resistance uses sneaker art, storytelling, and design as tools for advocacy and social change.
- Social Justice
- Advocacy
- Creative Expression
- Storytelling
- Collective Action
Soles of Resistance
Wear what you stand for.
Soles of Resistance uses sneaker art, storytelling, and design as tools for advocacy and social change. Participants explore issues impacting their communities and transform shoes into wearable expressions of resistance, solidarity, hope, and possibility. From collaborative installations and awareness campaigns to custom shoes created for marches, movements, and community actions, Soles of Resistance creates space for participants to turn creativity into collective voice.
Focus
- Social Justice
- Advocacy
- Creative Expression
- Storytelling
- Collective Action
immersionStepping Stones Leadership Immersion
From learning the work, to leading the work, to equipping others.
An interactive facilitation and leadership development experience that deepens self awareness, strengthens relational skills, and prepares participants to lead with confidence.
- Self Awareness
- Relational Skills
- Facilitation
- Leadership
- Experiential Learning
Stepping Stones Leadership Immersion
Learning the work. Leading the work. Equipping others.
Stepping Stones Leadership Immersion is an interactive facilitation and leadership development experience designed to help participants deepen self awareness, strengthen relational skills, and confidently lead others. Grounded in Heartkicks' Evidence Informed, Culturally Curious, and Relationally Adaptive framework, participants learn how to build connection, navigate group dynamics, adapt in real time, and create engaging spaces where people feel seen and valued. Through experiential learning, reflection, practice, and feedback, participants move from learning the work, to leading the work, to equipping others to do the same.
Focus
- Self Awareness
- Relational Skills
- Facilitation
- Leadership
- Experiential Learning
- Reflection
- Feedback
- Equipping Others
programStep by Step: College & Career Planning
Step into your next chapter with clarity and confidence.
A practical support experience that helps youth navigate college applications, job searches, resumes, interviews, and the professional skills that open doors.
- College Applications
- Resume Building
- Interviewing
- Career Exploration
- Professional Skills
Step by Step: College & Career Planning
Your next step, planned with purpose.
Step by Step: College & Career Planning is a practical support experience designed to help youth and school-aged participants move forward with confidence. We walk alongside participants as they explore career paths, apply to college, search for jobs, build resumes, and develop the professional skills that open doors. Through real-world practice, personalized feedback, and consistent encouragement, participants build time management, study habits, interviewing, public speaking, and self-advocacy skills — so they are prepared not just for the next application, but for the next season of life.
Focus
- Time Management
- Resume Building
- Study Skills
- Interviewing
- Public Speaking
- Career Exploration
- College Applications
- Professional Skills
