Teens for Jeans Helps Outfit the Homeless

Teens across the country collected a record-breaking 1 million jeans for homeless youth in just one month.

For the fifth year running, Do Something (dot) org partnered with retailer Aeropostale, and a few young celebrities, to execute its Teens for Jeans campaign, a program that galvanizes young people to collect jeans for people their age living on the streets.

The program has distributed 2.5 million pairs since it was first established.

"It blows my mind to see how many teens care so much about helping other teens with this campaign," DoSomething.org Chief Marketing Officer Aria Finger said in a press release. "Our members really did an amazing job this year!"

The campaign hit the milestone with the help of 1,000 stores, 12,000 schools and 125,000 teens cleaned out their closets for the cause.

Source.

Mikey's Meals

A boy transforms his profound gratitude into service after receiving a life-saving operation. Michael Carraway Jr. received a liver transplant at UCSF Medical Center in 2008.  He had been a healthy, active 6th grader participating in sports, music, and Indian dance.  He became sick, and doctors placed him on a list for an organ transplant.  Michael's life was saved by a teenager who was in a traffic accident.  His recovery was swift, and by the time Christmas rolled around, Michael told his mother he wanted to feed homeless people for Christmas.  Mikey's Meals was born.

I prepared dinner and fed 25 people Christmas 2008 to start. In 2009, except for the months of April and May, when Michael was in the hospital, Mickey’s Meals feed 1,175 people in the city of Oakland, CA. Christmas 2009, in addition to providing meals to the homeless, Mikey’s Meals sponsored its first toy drive and handed out 100 gift bags that included toiletries, hats, socks, and gloves to adults.

Mikey's Meals also raises awareness about organ donations.  For his Pay-It-Forward spirit, Michael was recently featured as a CNN Hero for 2012.

Operation Santa's Soldier

SGT Joshua Evans created Operation: Santa's Soldiers as a way to give back to those in need. His organization donates winter coats and boots to homeless shelters in the U.S.  Evans knows firsthand the struggles of being homeless:

"Just six years ago, Evans lost his job, home and had to send his daughter to live with his in-laws, KSTP.com reports. Today, the 33-year-old is finishing up his second deployment in Kuwait and [working to emerge as a nonprofit.] The organization provides warm coats and boots to those in need. 'I want this to go on in a pay-it-forward kind of way,' Evans told Stripes.com." Source.

Evans' mission is to give the gift of warmth to people less fortunate. Operation: Santa's Soldier is still growing.  Evans wants to see the effort spread beyond his own unit in Kuwait.  You can keep up with his work by following him on Facebook.

Bridge Communities: Adopt a Family this Christmas

The nonprofit Bridge Communities allows anyone to take responsibility for providing Christmas gifts, clothes and food for homeless children.

Many people associate “family” with the holiday season. We spend time with families. We celebrate family traditional. We send cards and gifts to our families. We reminisce about past holidays celebrated with family. This year, why not create your own extended family? Adopt a homeless family that’s currently in Bridge Communities’ Transitional Housing Program, and you can give even more during the season of giving. When you adopt a Bridge client family, you’ll experience the joy of giving love and hope to a Bridge family. --Bridge Communities

All year round Bridge Communities commits its efforts to transforming the lives of homeless families through partnering with talented, resourceful individuals and groups. The programs aim to empower families in the direction of self sufficiency.

Harmony, Hope & Healing

Music possesses a power that reaches beyond entertainment and performance.  Harmony, Hope & Healing harnesses the creative and therapeutic aspect of song as a way of offering dignity and spiritual healing to homeless and underserved women, men and children. This Chicago-based nonprofit was founded in 2000 by singer and educator Marge Nykaza.  Programs offer a chance to learn, heal, and experience a sense of community:

• Adult music sessions
• Musical English lessons for non native speakers
• Senior group piano lessons
• Senior choir rehearsals
• Parent / child music classes
• Children’s music classes
• Pre-school music classes
• Annual music event at each program site
• Choir performances in public or private venues

Harmony, Hope & Healing "delivers direct services in the form of therapeutic music programs that offer healing from the devastating effects of poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse and the isolation of aging."  (Mission Statement)

100,000 Homes for the Chronically Homeless

The 100,000 Homes Campaign intends to secure housing for 100,000 of the nation's most vulnerable homeless people.  More than 100 communities have signed on to make the dream happen.  Getting the homeless housed relies on this working model:

1. Build a strong, diverse local team
2. Clarify the local demand for permanent housing
3. Begin lining up permanent housing and support resources
4. Start moving people into permanent housing
5. Help people improve their health and retain their housing

To date, nearly 11,000 long-term and vulnerable people now have a home thanks to the 100,000 Homes Campaign.  The organization hopes to reach their 100,000 mark by July 2013.

Street Medicine: Healing the Homeless

Video Courtesy: Invisible People TV

The homeless live in unsheltered conditions on the streets, under bridges, in parks and various other public places.  Exposure to the elements causes its own set of ailments, but many homeless people suffer from mental illness, addictions, HIV/AIDs and physical disabilities.  Too many go untreated.  Invisible People caught up with Dr. Jim Withers of Operation Safety Net in Pittsburgh.  Withers administers Street Medicine by canvassing areas likely to be occupied by the homeless.  Withers is committed to honor the dignity of every person that comes in his care.  Homelessness is often tied to having no where to go after being released prison, foster care, or mental institutions.

The BeCause Foundation follows Withers' work in the documentary, "One Bridge to the Next."

Help USA: Rebuilding Lives

USA Today recently reported 75,000 American veterans are homeless.  Fifteen percent of the homeless veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2 million people were homeless in 2009 at some point, and those who are chronically homeless number around 112,000 people.

Help USA addresses the challenges facing the homeless.  Veterans, families in crisis, youth, those who are HIV positive, and victims of domestic violence are just some who fall under the purview of Help USA's mission.  As people build or rebuild their lives, Help USA tries to give them a vision of their own potential.

Find out about volunteering here.

Narayanan Krishnan: Serving the Destitute

Narayanan Krishnan went from an award-winning chef to a caregiver in the service of India's homeless and destitute.  Since, 2002, he has provided 1.6 million hot meals to his nation's poorest through his nonprofit, The Akshya Trust.  His organization's mission is to provide healthy food and love and to offer an opportunity for rehabilitation.  Krishnan strives to help restore human dignity.

Krishnan and his efforts earned him a tribute as one of CNN's Heroes.