Ideas In Action
"If you're seeking a creative way to reuse the plastic bags used by so many stores, look to the Mat Makers, a group of women crocheting them into sleeping mats for the homeless."
"To help the rising number of people living in cars and campers on the streets of Venice and nearby areas, the city of Los Angeles plans to recruit an agency to operate a 'safe overnight parking' program aimed at linking them with social services and... permanent housing."
"Mayor Bill Foster vowed Monday to create a permanent shelter that will provide enough beds for the city's homeless, which would allow police to remove people sleeping on the streets."
"Now, TracFone Wireless has announced a new lifeline program that provides a free cell phone and 60 minutes of free monthly time for emergencies for low-income, elderly or disabled citizens."
"For a team of homeless people, sometimes just showing up is a small victory. 'After so much heartache and chaos and pain, to have so much fun on a soccer field, you don't even know what it means,' said David Altherr, 53, who became homeless after seven drunken-driving convictions."
"The center and three other local nonprofit, low-income health centers created a company to help other centers nationwide set up electronic health record systems."
"Hundreds of farmers are at work in cities such as Detroit, New York City, Atlanta and Milwaukee where low-income residents are faced with high rates of obesity and diabetes because of bad diets and the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, experts say."
"What can you do with a few hundred used plastic shopping bags? Members of New Life Church in Conway are weaving them into sleeping mats for the homeless."
"The Murkland School, where a majority of the students live below poverty level, was chosen this year to be the recipients of the Philoptochos Literacy Outreach Program. In the previous two years, a total of nearly 4,000 books were distributed..."
"One project combines Section 8 housing vouchers with other anti-poverty assistance to help 6,000 families in communities with high concentrations of homeless families."
"Eventually, the school will offer girls in grades 5-8 from low-income families a tuition-free place where they can be challenged to dream and transform dreams into reality."
"A new website will help house Tarrant County's homeless more rapidly and make it easier for the public to volunteer and track program success, advocates for the homeless say."
"For instance, students coming from impoverished backgrounds often have a better chance at succeeding during their college careers if they see examples of peers who have done well once they entered higher education."
"Kamvar and his wife, Angie Schiavoni, recently launched CodeEd, a pilot program to introduce fifth-grad girls to computer science. Funded with $20,000 donated by the couple, it's the only such program in the U.S. geared to underprivileged preteen girls."
"Workers drove the bar to the homeless shelter in an air-conditioned SUV with its seats folded down. Once unwrapped, the bar was cut into coffee cup-sized pieces and given to the shelter's clients."
"[Ruhl]... listened to a presentation on a major poverty program by Catholic Charities and knew that the angel had answered. The goal of this national program is to cut the poverty rate in half by 2020. 'I wanted to promote Catholic Charities USA Campaign to Reduce Poverty,' Ruhl said."
"The $1.9 million center, nestled between two huge oak trees off Santa Fe Street and N.E. First Avenue, will offer the homeless a safe, temperature-controlled space to find refuge, officials said."
"This was no fun run. They were asked to be the first members of the new Boston chapter of Back on My Feet, a nationally recognized nonprofit that uses running to help the homeless rebuild their lives."
"Margaret Harrison spent almost two decades at Bank of New York Mellon Corp.... When she decided to retire at 60, she wasn't ready to stop working. She adapted skills acquired in the corporate world to help low- and middle-income families buy homes."
"Wal-Mart announced plans Wednesday to donate $2 billion over five years to food banks and hunger relief organizations, one of the largest charitable efforts that the nation's largest grocer has undertaken."
"The council and the library system distributed more than 2,500 copies of the book to programs for the homeless, juvenile correctional facilities and to schools, where questions raised by the story were explored."
"Camden's Tent City, a homeless encampment on an I-676 exit ramp that has become a source of fascination for reporters and donors - and a dilemma for government and social service agencies - prepared to shut down Wednesday."
"For two decades, big lot grocery stores have followed the population shifts to the suburbs. Left behind are 'food deserts,' where low-income residents' cheap and convenient food choices are the growing glut of fast-food restaurants."
"In what it described as a blow against the fattening temptations of fast food, the board of supervisors in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, voted Tuesday to ban the promotional toys that often accompany child-size portions of cheeseburgers..."
"Members of the Des Moines City Council and Polk County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Monday to create a Homeless Coordinating Council in response to one of the consultant's recommendations."
Next »