Net Literacy: Children Take the Lead

Kids bridge the digital divide by helping senior citizens learn to navigate the internet.  Net Literacy was founded by middle school students in 2003.  The organization has since developed a series of digital literacy projects: Senior Connects, Safe Connects, Financial Connects, and many more. Net Literacy has made computer access possible to more than 170,000 people with a small army of tech-savvy, student volunteers.

"One hundred million Americans do not have high speed Internet at home, and 18 million Americans live in areas with little or no broadband infrastructure.  Seniors, minorities, low-income and rural Americans remain disproportionately offline. "

The Net Literacy mission to get the digitally disconnected engaged has included students refurbishing 15,000 plus computers in just the last four years.

Out of the Rubble, A Community Garden

The Holt Community Garden emerges from the destruction following Alabama's April 27, 2011 Tornado disaster.  The photo captures the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the sustainable living project.  The land used to provide produce for local soup kitchens, and good work continues.

Through the cooperative efforts of Bennu America Foundation, Project Team Up, Soma Church, Tombigbee RC&D, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the property will serve as a teaching tool for beginning farmers and ranchers and be used to address food insecurity.

• The 'model' will include the farm, local food processing and food preparation (in the 18-wheel mobile kitchen "Joshua" stationed at Soma Church by ACTS World Relief).
• The farm will also serve as a 'demonstration farm' for beginning farmers and ranchers; those interested in agriculture as a career or source of local sustenance; interns pursuing a variety of studies and research; and the surrounding community-particularly children and youth.
• The crops will be used as ingredients in seasonal menus which will be prepared in Joshua, local churches and other community agencies.
• The farm represents an opportunity to provide the community, students and others with occupational training in agriculture, food processing and culinary arts, while also serving as a platform for education on wellness, local agriculture, food security and food preparation. 

The model in Holt, Alabama has the attention of major NGO's who see the potential for replicating the project in other devastated areas like Haiti.

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.

Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen: Hope Can Feed the Soul

Musical artist Jon Bon Jovi uses star power to address hunger, build relationships, and celebrate community.  His Soul Kitchen Restaurant welcomes everyone to the table.  There are no prices on the menu.  Customers pay what they can afford....usually a $10 donation.  And people are encouraged to pay it forward for others who have less.  Those who cannot afford a meal are not turned away.  They can volunteer an hour of time helping in the kitchen or in the restaurant's organic garden in exchange for a meal.

Bon Jovi tells NBC's Today Show that he hopes his charitable business model will catch on.

BeCause: Social Change through Storytelling

The BeCause Foundation uses storytelling to bring home compassion and understanding to anyone willing to watch their documentaries.  The goals are social change, widespread problem-solving, and complex social problems addressed with innovation and determination and often love.

BeCause films showcase the extraordinary compassion, resourcefulness, and dedication of ordinary people and communities: A doctor who treats the homeless in Pittsburgh (One Bridge to the Next); An innovative, multi-disciplinary group of professionals supporting child sexual abuse victims in Chicago (Alone No Love); A remarkable community of refugees from Burma risking their lives to help their own (Crossing Midnight); A small Southern town dealing with rapid and culturally complex demographic change (Welcome to Shelbyville).

BeCause pioneers in the synthesis of community campaigns, social media, and video projects.  You can learn more by visiting their website.

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."

Laughing Man Worldwide: Commerce and Community in Partnership

Working with an Ethiopian coffee farmer inspired actor Hugh Jackman to make a promise.  He wanted to help the farmer Dukale and his community. Laughing Man Worldwide is the realization of Jackman's promise. The company supports entrepreneurs who believe "commerce and community grow together." Through the company, Laughing Man Coffee & Tea, the organization imports, roasts, and serves specialty beverages.  All profits, 100%, go to charities.

Laughing Man Worldwide finds, incubates, and supports companies and products that believe in the "ALL BE HAPPY" vision.  Jackman's efforts are helping to create much needed jobs and more.

Laughing Man Worldwide believes education is the essential foundation for ensuring a peaceful, healthy and prosperous worldwide community. We support innovative and effective educational initiatives both here and abroad. To begin with, we have partnered with Harlem Village Academies and Dr. Deborah Kenny. We have visited these schools and consider them to be a premier example of what education can be and can do.

The organization is on the lookout for who they can help next.

Do Something: You Could Save a Life

The award-winning DoSomething.org mobilizes young people to volunteer for a wide variety of great causes.  Right now the organization's nationwide bone marrow registry drive targets the best potential donors: college students.

Thousands of cancer patients need bone manor transplants every year, but only 2 percent of the population has had their cheeks swabbed to join the national registry. --DoSomething.org 

This nonprofit inspires college students to set up their own bone marrow drives on university campuses around the U.S.

This barely scratches the surface Do Something's mission.  Animal welfare, disaster relief, fighting prejudice, health issues, poverty, or bullying.  Do Something has your cause.  The organization even gives away grants to people 25 and younger so that they can start up programs in their own communities.

Visit the Do Something website to learn more.

Grow Alabama Mobilizing to Aid Farmers

The day-to-day business of Grow Alabama is to serve as a hub for community-supported agriculture.  The organization connects produce customers to more than 50 Alabama farmers.  The state's new immigration  law caused a crisis in farm labor just as crops are set to harvest.  So for the time being, Grow Alabama broadens its mission by connecting workers with farmers before fields rot and livelihoods are laid to waste.  The first week of October, Grow Alabama helped a tomato farmer near Steele.  This week, a sweet potato farmer will be helped with his harvest.

Here's a little about the driving force behind Grow Alabama:

Grow Alabama is the dream of one man, and the chance for everyone to preserve a vital way of life. Jerry Spencer saw Grow Alabama as a way to give our community a direct connection to the family farms of Alabama. Members not only buy more nutritious, flavorful food, they keep money from leaving the State, and a rich tradition from vanishing forever. Starting as Mt Laurel Organic Gardens in 1998, Grow Alabama is now the country’s first statewide multi-farm community supported agriculture program, with the best Alabama has to offer.

Click here to find out about becoming a customer or here to learn more about Community-Supported Agriculture.

Water for People: the current of change

Water For People combines the ingenuity and talent of entrepreneurs, civil society, governments, and communities to find solutions for safe water systems. The people who benefit build and maintain the projects empowering everyone involved. Lives are transformed by improved health and economic boosts which in turn frees families and communities from the grip of poverty.

Clean water is essential to life, health, and prosperity. Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, India, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador are all benefiting from collaborative Water for People projects.  The make up of volunteers is global.  World Water Corps monitors projects in the field.  Young people from around the world are invited to propose solutions to sanitation problems with the World Water Youth Initiative.

Patrice Millet: a Life Rededicated to the Service of Haiti's Children

Patrice Millet survived life-threatening bone cancer and decided to do something different with his life.  The successful businessman sold his construction company to dedicate his life to the service of Haiti's children.  He founded the Foundation Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours (FONDAPS).

Millet's nonprofit organization uses sports to educate kids on fair play, teamwork, respect, love, and how to become a responsible, contributing citizen.  Poverty is pervasive in Haiti; so, FONDAPS offers a food program that addresses health and nutrition.  School tuition is also paid for youth whose parents cannot afford the fees. Besides offering sports, nutrition, and opportunities for education, FONDAPS makes regular donations to Haiti's orphanages and youth soccer clubs.

Millet has been nominated as a top 2011 CNN Hero.

The Oldham Project: a tribute to life and beauty

In 2008, The Oldham Project began providing free photo shoots for people facing terminal and life-threatening illnesses.  Photographer Terri Shaver contemplated the nonprofit after losing a second sister to breast cancer.  As a 501 (c)(3) organization, The Oldham Project offers beautiful portraits FREE of charge to patients in Lansing, Michigan and the surrounding area.  If those afflicted cannot travel, the studio does house calls.

"Following the portrait session, the family will receive a CD of retouched images, along with a copyright release so they can print and use the photos as they desire. The Oldham Project currently offers portrait sessions to anyone suffering from an illness, but more specifically, we offer two programs: Be Bold, Feel Beautiful and Kourageous Kids."

The Oldham Project's website is deluged with visitors right now because CNN has spotlighted Shaver's work for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  But you can have a look at her work and the patient stories at the studio's blog.