About Our Founder

The Founder and CEO, Denise R. Poole has a heart for people in every sense of the word, feeling and emotion. With experiences that spans more than twenty years, Denise R. Poole is considered an expert in the field of social services and child and youth development. Prior to the establishment of Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc. Ms. Poole owned and operated a day care, certified by the State of New Jersey. She would volunteer her services reading to children and visiting them in what was then known as orphanages. Ms. Poole, opened up her home and became a care provider for the developmental disabled through the State of New Jersey where she began as a respite provider for those caretakers who needed a break in the care of such special individuals. Later she became a provider for those who needed permanent placement. Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc. is a mission to educate and provide outreach to services linked with providing a safe home for youth who are victims of human trafficking. The program will assist youth with life skills, social skills, and increased self-worth.  

As a result of Ms. Poole’s own challenging and formative years, she was found rendering her heart and ear to other women and became a speaker at churches, women’s groups, women’s retreats, and conferences as an encouragement to others. She would also serve as a strong advocate to assist women in being empowered to face life’s obstacles. Offering her support and locating resources for women to become positioned to achieve their next level in life is a mission she enjoys fulfilling. Ms. Poole believes in helping others advance emotionally, spiritually, physically and gaining their self-worth and self-value will enable them to thrive in life.

Ms. Poole wanted to do more for others and that was a catalyst that compelled her to become formally educated. She is a Licensed Associate Counselor with the State of New Jersey and holds a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling; Master of Arts in Human Services: Marriage and Family Counseling; a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Health Counseling; an Associate of Arts in Sociology; and an Associate of Arts in Psychology. She has received Certifications in various trainings for Services to Victims of Domestic Violence, Trauma, Crisis, and Working with Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

She has taken her formal education along with her heart and has worked in various positions counseling families, marriage counseling, adolescent counseling, and counseling males and females providing both in-home treatment and out-patient treatment. During this venture, Ms. Poole has also worked with victims of domestic violence and her heart has become committed to working alongside of  victims of sexual assaults. Specifically, Ms. Poole’s work has involved working with females who are caught up in the human trafficking ring. Driven to do more to impact the lives of these youth in the community, Ms. Poole is seeking to provide education to the community, outreach to this population and linking them to other organizations that can provide housing until her nonprofit is able to grow into its own to house them.

Ms. Poole’s passion for these youth has led her to gather a cadre of committed volunteers and for Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc.  The mission of Ms. Poole is to empower youth with safe housing, self-esteem, life skills, independent living skills, appropriate social skills, and increased self-worth through the Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc.