An abundance of innovative work is being undertaken across the globe to help communities improve their health and well-being.
Through the Out of the Box competition, we learned of hundreds of stories of change. Although the competition has concluded, the fantastic work of these great initiatives is still continuing, and we are proud to shine the spotlight on the continuing work of the ten Out of the Box Prize finalists--and soon other innovators—on this page.
We hope that you find inspiration in these stories of change, and that you will check back often as we feature additional stories from around the world.
Health 
Environment
Disaster Management
Economic Development
ALAY BUHAY Community Development Foundation (ABCDF) - Manilla, Philippines
Our Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) was tailored-fit to respond to the needs of our partner-communities. The CEP utilized a participative process from community organizing, people’s empowerment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and most importantly, decision-making. In the process, members learned to take greater responsibility for the future of their communities. (more... )
Impact India Foundation - Maharashtra State, India
IIF’s Community Health Initiative (CHI) covers 1.5 million backward tribals in the State. CHI aims at the reduction of existing disabilities and incidence of future disabilities through prevention and cure using existing delivery systems and available infrastructure, in partnership with Government, NGOS and local community. (more... )
Landirani Trust - M'bang'ombe and Mtema, Malawi
Using a network of local volunteers organized into local based committees (LBCs), we trained them as specialists in one of 5 areas, orphan care, health, water and sanitation, education and agriculture. (more... )
Southern Bancorp - Philips County, Arkansas, United States
Southern Bancorp has the mission to revitalize struggling rural communities in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. For years, Southern Bancorp invested millions of dollars to mitigate poverty in these communities, but the effort failed to have a significant impact on reducing poverty. Southern’s innovative strategy is to build long-term partnerships with residents, local leaders, the business community, nonprofits, and other stakeholders to establish community goals, build capacity to achieve them, and maintain momentum until the goals are achieved and the community begins to turn around. (more... )
Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism & Substance Abuse - New York, United States
We work with and foster collaboration among persons and organizations from almost all community sectors – including business, education, media, youth, parents and faith-based, encompassing all demographics and operating across the socio-economic spectrum – to address ATOD use - with particular attention to alcohol and tobacco – in Genesee County, especially among youth. (more... )
Anjali Mental Health Organization - West Bengal, India
Janamanas was launched in November 2007, as one of Anjali’s definitive steps towards de-institutionalisation, community care and demanding every citizen’s right to mental health/wellness. It is a collaborative project with the State Government Department of Municipal Affairs, to work in 3 peri-urban municipalities, with the most neglected, marginalized and economically backward section of the population using available Government infrastructures. (more... )
Uhuru Child - Maai Mahiu, Central Province, Kenya
We worked with Jikaze, a group of 900 Internally Displaced Persons following the Kenyan Post-Election Violence of 2008, to create a sustainable re-settlement village. The problems plaguing the community were as follows: Lack of consistent food; lack of clean water; limited access to health care; women forced into prostitution with Lorry Drivers; overcrowded classrooms and limited access to school fees; half of the community still living in tents; no electricity or easy access to cooking fuels; no financial capital to start businesses; semi-arid region with little rainfall and inaccessible water table.(more... )
City of Monrovia - Monrovia, California, United States
Incidents on Sherman Avenue prompted the City of Monrovia to develop a Neighborhood Strategy Team (NST) with key staff representing all City services. The purpose of the NST was to review issues, elicit input from the community and apply their expertise toward resolving them. The NST developed the Monrovia Area Partnership (MAP) as a comprehensive approach to address the Sherman Avenue crisis. MAP’s goals are to eliminate crime and blight while empowering neighborhoods by fostering citizen activism, volunteerism and community pride.(more... )
Fountain of Hope Youth Initiative Group - Kiambu, Kenya
In 2007, we started supporting needy girls with sanitary pads. When an orphaned girl under the care of her aunt was brought for counseling in our tiny office, she had stained her dress in school when the piece of cloth she was using got soaked, letting the blood stain her dress. She vowed never to go back to school after boys scolded her and fellow girls made her a gossip topic. We counseled her back to school, gave her pads then it dawned on us that this wasn’t a one-time need. We later realized there were other girls who go through similar problems, so we began to solicit support from supermarkets and well-wishers. Currently we support over 200 needy girls and a bunch of widows. The results are these girls never miss school as they used to and recover their self-esteem. (more... )
SPARK MicroGrants - New York, United States
We have created a dynamic model for community organizing and granting that can be adapted for any community in need. We work with enthusiastic local facilitators who want to help an impoverished community that they know of and care for. Our involvement in each community is succinct. A local facilitator organizes community meetings, asks the community to define their most pressing social problem, come up with ways to solve that problem, and implement the best one with funding from a MicroGrant. (more... )
Annah Orphanage Vocational Center (Annovoc) - Uganda, Africa
At Annovoc, we have been working closely with a Japanese church located in Mbarara District to improve the quality of life for the children in the area. We have provided counseling to victims of HIV/AIDS and the victims’ families. The vocational skills that we taught to the children and widows have helped the community reduce poverty, become self-sustaining, and also to start up small, income-generating businesses. (more...)
School Health Clinics of Santa Clara County - San Jose, California, United States
In order to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, our Registered Dietitian and Health Education Manager developed a series of nutrition/healthy lifestyle education classes presented to children in their classrooms at 4 schools in San Jose, CA. These classes consist of learning how to fuel your body by choosing healthy food options, the importance of physical activity, the risk factors of obesity, how to read food labels, and taking responsibility for your choices. The classes include demonstrations and lots of interaction. (more...)
Colectivo CEIBA - San Salvador, El Salvador
We began by conducting assessment studies in 8 communities in Santiago Texacuangos, one of the regions in El Salvador that sustained the most damage during Hurricane Ida (Nov. 2009). Based on these studies, we chose to work with 3 communities who were most in need of social reconstruction, determined by levels of damage and the communities’ expressed desire to “get organized.” A 6-person team implemented the chosen projects. We consulted with the local governments of Joya Grande, El Sauce, and Shaltipa and then launched the projects in February 2010. (more...)
homeWORD - Missoula, Montana, United States
homeWORD created a process for affordable housing development that incorporates several core values: serves working families, community-designed, models new strategies for green building, and demonstrates sustainable methods. This process, which we call the charrette process, is now a signature of homeWORD’s affordable housing development. The charrette is a public design meeting where interested community members come together to brainstorm ideas for the design, site plan, development and management of homeWORD’s proposed housing. (more...)
Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board Integrated Hospice Unit - Cameroon, Africa
The palliative care team aims to provide holistic care to terminally ill patients. This care includes physical, psychosocial and spiritual aspects and most often takes place in patients’ homes. We recruited local volunteers from 5 regions in North West Cameroon with knowledge to identify patients for the palliative care team to care for. The volunteers were trained to provide basic health care and to address psychosocial and spiritual aspects of care which accompany terminal illnesses. This has led to a huge increase in the number of patients able to access essential symptom control medicines and holistic care. (more...)
Ten Sixteen Recovery Network - Gladwin, Michigan, United States
In 2008, Gladwin county had 3 deaths related to drug overdose, and in 2009 that number doubled to 6 deaths. We wanted to be proactive and find ways to stop the troubling upward trend in drug overdose deaths. Our first project was to sponsor two dinners that were hosted by The County Prosecutor. The dinners were an opportunity to have a discussion about the problem with local law enforcement and those in the medical community. Each event left us with specific action steps to make our community aware of the problem that prescription drug abuse had become. (more...)
Netos de Bandim - Guinea Bissau, West Africa
Netos de Bandim has extensive experience in designing community education campaigns that use dance, theater, music, and poetry to convey public education messages. In this case we worked with UNICEF to educate over 2000 families in 10 Bissau neighborhoods about malaria prevention and protection. The project enabled over 100 young people of the dance group to learn about malaria and to exercise leadership through teaching their community about malaria prevention. The campaign focused on changing attitudes and behaviors about malaria through ethnic dances, street theater, music, poetry, and community dialogues. (more...)
"A Better Way" Domestic Violence Shelter - Victorville, California, United States
The founders of "A Better Way" Domestic Violence Shelter and Outreach first established a 24-hour hotline and recruited volunteers who provided victims of domestic violence with referrals and support. With the help of the community, “A Better Way” was soon able to provide emergency hotel vouchers. Now they operate a 26-bed shelter and serve over 1500 victims a year in the Victor Valley and surrounding areas, providing a multi-service program based on the original philosophy of the agency's founders. In addition to the shelter, educational classes are provided to the community free of charge. Victims and their children can live violence-free lives and the shelter will continue to show victims "A Better Way." (more...)
Kesem - Kiryat Tivon, Israel
Kesem (Hebrew for “magic”) invited 3 air monitoring experts from a worldwide association, "Global Community Monitor" to help conduct a 4 day seminar for 30 people from the community of Ramat Yohanan. In the seminar, the community learned the Bucket Brigade method in which the community uses a simple means (buckets) that are effective and inexpensive tools for monitoring pollutants in the air. In the last day of the seminar the community went to monitor the air near the refinery that is next to the kibbutz. The goal of this act is to lower the air pollution from the industry in the Haifa Bay area by pressuring factory owners and the authorities with real scientific evidence of the contamination. (more...)
Violence Prevention Coailition of Los Angeles - Los Angeles, California, United States
The Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles (VPCGLA) offered a series of “Youth Challenge” Grants to our coalition member organizations that are engaged in community-based nonprofit work. The projects were designed to foster collaboration, communication, and long-term partnership among the organizations, in an effort to increase and maintain youth engagement and leadership. These youth-driven projects offered young people a place to express their opinions and identify solutions to the violence that they themselves encounter every day. This non-traditional, youth-based approach culminated in the Youth Challenge Fair, in which young people spoke out, performed, engaged with policymakers, promoted legislation affecting them and their communities, and educated each other in a fun, supportive setting. (more...)
Foundation for Released Prisoners - Cameroon, Africa
Post-independent Cameroon is still struggling with an undemocratic structure and problematic procedures for providing security and social services to the underprivileged. The victims who suffer the most under this system are ex-convicts and homeless children. The lack of a social security structure to take care of these marginalized individuals is a problem faced by many communities. We determined that one solution to these problems is to make vocational training skills available and thus offer these individuals a way to support themselves, so we began providing this skill training. Our goal in providing practical carpentry skills to ex-convicts and street children was to empower them with the lifetime ability for socioeconomic development. (more...)
Bags4Kids - California City, California, United States
The Bags4Kids Foundation collects donations to support the mental well-being and comfort of children during stressful transitions from police stations, children’s services offices and Foster care agencies. The idea for our organization began when we saw how sad it was for displaced children to arrive with nothing, having left everything they knew and loved behind. Initially, bags4kids filled 11 backpacks and took them to local police stations. They were a big hit with the children, and now we have filled and delivered over 8,000 backpacks and diaper bags. We give these bags to children who have no toothbrush, no toys, and no blankets, or any other items to treasure and call their own. (more...)
Help Self Help Centre - Nairobi, Kenya
Help Self Help Center (HSHC) began producing and marketing biodiesel made from croton seeds starting in November 2008. In fact, it is the first Kenyan organization to successfully produce bio-diesel from oil seeds on a commercial basis. The problem being addressed was finding a balance between conservation and development that would also help reduce poverty in the communities adjacent to the Mount Kenya forest. The Community Forest Association members collect seeds from the forest to sell to HSHC for Biodiesel production. The fact that the seeds now bring income to the community has prevented the destruction of trees in the forest. (more...)
Group 8 - College Station, Texas, United States
Harvesting Health plans to promote health among inner city youths who have a history of obesity and/or diabetes by encouraging them to get active in a rural, agricultural setting while simultaneously benefiting the community. As an agreement between the city and local farmers, youths in College Station, Texas will volunteer their labor and exercise at nearby farms, and the city will gain a part of the farms’ produce at the end of the year. In this way, the young adults will be able to exercise in a cleaner environment and the city will have a cheap source of healthy food alternatives. (more...)
Lha Charitable Trust - McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India
It was apparent from the number of people who had come to us complaining of eye-sight problems that there was a real need to provide the opportunity for people to get their eyes tested. We contacted local eye doctors and identified many who were enthusiastic about participating in our project. We developed a plan for one doctor to perform preliminary testing at our office, another local doctor at Delek Hospital to perform more detailed testing to those individuals who failed the preliminary test, and finally for an optometrist to prepare prescriptions for those who required glasses. Our aim, based on available funds, was to assist 120 local Tibetan and Indian people in the acquisition of eyeglasses. By the end of September, less than a month after we had started the project, we were able to help 145 people get fitted for prescription glasses. (more...)
Peer Solutions - Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Stand & Serve (S&S) is an initiative that works with schools, families, and the community across Maricopa County, Arizona, to cultivate safety, equality and respect as norms for all. The goal of Stand & Serve is to prevent homelessness, child abuse, violence, substance abuse, OPPRESSION, depression, suicide, and more - BEFORE they begin. We have on-going Stand & Serve activities in six high schools and 6 middle/elementary schools, which are carried out during school lunches, after school, and at community centers during the summer. (more...)
Health Community Empowerment Program - Kampala, Uganda, Africa
The current HIV prevalence in Uganda is estimated at 6.4% among adults, and women are disproportionately affected, accounting for 57% of all adults living with HIV. Social and biological factors put women at a higher risk of the infection. The Health Community Empowerment Project's Gweeri Women against HIV/AIDS initiative was started by 20 women who had received earlier training in HIV counseling. The goal of this organization is to increase women’s knowledge and therefore empower them through positive living and HIV/AIDS prevention skills. (more...)
Peaches & Greens Produce Market - Detroit, Michigan, United States
In the summer of 2008, the Peaches & Greens Produce truck turned on the speaker and took to the streets, bringing fresh produce to Central Detroit. In the fall of that year, the market opened for business 5 days a week. We hired staff from within our community to provide access, advocacy and education. We have expanded from only running routes to also providing produce to local liquor stores, making stops at Senior Centers and holding cooking and nutrition classes in our store. (more...)
Surwet Network for Peace and Development - Kosele, Nyanza, Kenya
Our organization helped host a series of sports activities involving women and men in the Rachuonyo South district community in Kenya. The sports events were accompanied by workshop discussions to create awareness on the rights of women. Our focus was on empowering women and building community consensus on key gender issues such as reproductive health, property rights for women, HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and rights of women in the decision-making processes of the community. By using sports as a starting point for female empowerment, we plan to make it reality for girls to fully participate in any sphere of life they choose. (more...)
Pima Prevention Partnership - Tucson, Arizona, United States
Pima County Teen Court (PCTC) is a juvenile crime diversion program that uses a restorative justice model and community service learning activities to reduce juvenile court recidivism in Pima County, Arizona. Each youth enters PCTC by participating in a Teen Court hearing in which he or she is “sentenced” to complete a set of constructive consequences by a jury of his or her peers. Each of the constructive sentences was designed using best practice strategies, restorative justice, and service learning model programs. Teen Court is offered as an alternative to prosecution for 450 youth (12-17 years of age) per year referred by Pima County Juvenile Court Center for misdemeanors and selected felony crimes. (more...)
Ndlovu Care Group - Groblersdal, Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa
Ndlovu Care Group provides two innovative and integrated initiatives under its Rural Advancement Plan - Community Health Services and Community Care Services. These programs offer support to the desperately poor and underserved communities of Elandsdoorn and Lilydale in South Africa. The Rural Advancement Plan attempts to provide a positive and sustainable future orientation, through social transformation and individual achievement. (more...)
Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council - Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States
Holyoke, Massachusetts is a former industrial city that suffers from disinvestment, poverty, and obesity like many other cities. In 2008, a small group of individuals came together to address these issues, forming the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council. In the summer of 2010, the council proposed creating a community bike shop that would offer free programming for community members on how to build, fix, and maintain bicycles. They hoped that the “Bike Shop” initiative would be a fun, effective way to address the issues of obesity, limited access to recreation, and the need for leadership / job skills development that they felt were most important to the community. (more...)
South Coast Hospice Association - KwaZulu-Natal, Republic of South Africa
HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on South African families. Children are experiencing multiple losses as their circles of care break down under the strain of this pandemic. The children who participate in the South Coast Hospice for Psychosocial Care Memory Box Workshops are invited to participate in a 5-day workshop under the supervision of a Counseling Psychologist, two Social Workers and two Caregivers. Special emphasis is placed on memory work, with modules dealing with family stories and family trees, and memory boxes which the children can decorate. The stories of their deceased parents, photographs, important life documents, as well as various precious objects and tangible treasures pertaining to their history are placed in their boxes. (more...)
Conservation Corps North Bay - San Rafael, California, United States
In 2008, Conservation Corps North Bay launched the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden, a 5.8 acre teaching farm that provides unprecedented learning experiences, fosters environmental stewardship and provides solutions to California’s most pressing environmental problems. Considered the first industry-driven workforce development program of its kind within the California Community College system, the farm is a landmark collaboration led by Conservation Corps North Bay, and in partnership with the College of Marin and the University of California Cooperative Extension – Marin. (more...)
WASH United - Braanfontein, Gauteng Province, South Africa
The WASH United Programme’s mission is to motivate and mobilize people in Sub-Saharan Africa and around the world to improve hygienic practices. The campaign targets everyone and every sector because the importance of health and hygiene cuts across many issues. Since its inception in January 2010, over 100,000 people within Sub-Saharan Africa from both rural and peri-urban areas have been touched by WASH United’s work. The WASH United campaign targets mainly children, women, and vulnerable communities. (more...)
Green Las Cruces - Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
Las Cruces, New Mexico is a poor community facing increasingly high energy costs and more extreme seasons. Green Las Cruces recognizes that by using our natural resource, the sun, to produce power, the city can address its energy needs in a sustainable fashion. On October 10, 2010, they installed the first two (of a planned total of twelve) solar panels on housing for the chronically homeless. Their efforts serve as a symbol, showing community support for green energy and helping to leverage city-wide implementation of renewable energy. (more...)
NTC - Kwala, Tanzania, Africa
Kwala is a rural community of 3,000 people, mostly subsistence farmers. It hosts a primary and secondary school but ranks in the bottom 5% of community education in Tanzania. Kwala has failed to produce any secondary school graduates, preventing Kwala’s families from breaking the vicious cycle of poverty that has plagued the community for generations. So, the NTC Kwala Committee was established, with 12 members from Kwala’s schools and community and NTC’s 2 project managers. The Kwala Committee meets monthly to consider proposals from the community for meeting its goals for education, and to vote on which project to undertake. The aim of their work is two-fold: to provide aid that will result in the most significant progress toward the village’s educational goals, and to develop the community’s ability to eventually do this without NTC’s help. (more...)
Aging With Ease in Rural Communities (AWE) - Seymour Arm, British Columbia, Canada
The rural community of Seymour Arm, British Columbia is remote and isolated, and as a result many of our senior citizens lacked easy access to important primary health services. So we formed the nonprofit organization Aging With Ease in Rural Communities (AWE) to address this issue. By reaching out to our vulnerable seniors and those with disabilities, empowering them and including them, we help them maintain an active lifestyle within their community. (more...)
SORAK Development Agency - Kampala, Uganda, Africa
In Uganda, tuberculosis and HIV contribute 60% of the disease burden in the population according to the Ministry of Health, and yet TB/HIV collaborative interventions are not moving as fast as would be expected. The HIV prevalence remains high at 7% and continues to be a risk factor for tuberculosis in the community. SORAK Development Agency developed a project that reached out directly to 12,000 persons affected with tuberculosis and HIV with accurate prevention messages using participatory theatre approaches as well as mobilizing them for TB and HIV preventative and treatment services. This led to increased TB case reporting, treatment adherence, psychosocial support with 80% of tuberculosis patients getting cured and the remaining 20% continuing with treatment by the end of this project. (more...)
Life is Good Foundation, Playmakers Initiative - Boston, Massachusetts, United States
The Life is Good Kids Foundation helps kids overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness and extreme poverty. Our Playmakers Initiative provides training, resources and support to the adults dedicated to caring for these children so that all involved lead healthier, more joyful lives. The Playmakers Child Life Training Retreat adapted and transformed a teacher-designed program for use in a medical setting for a new segment of caregivers serving children with life-threatening challenges. Playmakers delivered this training outside of a traditional conference setting, through a 2-day retreat featuring lectures, yoga classes, video, dialogue, and games instruction. (more...)
African Community Team Support - Mbale, Eastern Uganda, Africa
African Community Teams Support (ACTS) is a charity organization that defends, rehabilitates and empowers victims of violence, marginalization and exploitation, helps them make peace and live harmoniously through formation of socio-economic community networks and teams. Beginning as a family effort, we worked to address the psychosocial misery of defiled, abused, and devastated youths and women (DADYs) with counseling and care, but realized that this alone was not enough. By training and deploying restored DADYs, we address not only psychosocial restoration but also the skills dilemmas, gainful occupation and socio-economic empowerment. For instance, we initiated a community-led nursery school not only to solve a community need for nursery education, but also to occupy and empower restored DADYs. (more...)
SimplyHelp Foundation - Los Angeles, California, United States
SimplyHelp is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles dedicated to relieving poverty by providing emergency disaster relief, vocational training, and shelter and care. SimplyHelp established a branch called ‘SimplyHelp Cambodia’ with two vocational training schools – a computer school and a tailoring school – in Cambodia. SimplyHelp Cambodia was set up with the help of passionate local Cambodians. The schools are run by Cambodians, for Cambodians. To date, SimplyHelp Cambodia has graduated over 4000 students, of which 85% find a job either working for a big company, in banking, for an NGO, or they open up their own shop, or go on to higher education. (more...)
Association of Locally Empowered Youth - Libertad, Misamis Oriental, Philippines
The Association of Locally-Empowered Youth in Northern Mindanao has as its members children of poor farmers. Our aim is to improve ecology and sanitation by implementing appropriate solutions to the lack of water and resources. We knew that the local communities did not have toilets and would defecate in the open. This is because water is very scarce in these mountainous areas and the communities had few resources. The lack of toilets often results in health problems such as diarrhea and worm infestation, and affects children especially. Our solution for the issue is to implement eco-sanitation (ecosan) urine diverting dehydration toilets and use human waste as fertilizer thereby saving on expensive chemical fertilizers. (more...)
Neighborhood-based Family Intervention Center, a Division of Children's Aid Society of Mercer County - Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States
The program started out with a grant from Mercer County Juvenile Probation 16 years ago with a focus on reducing recidivism. But the program was popular and expanded quickly; soon we began partnering with the local schools, social services, CYS, YMCA, Behavioral Health Commission, and many other partners to provide a summer camp for children and teenagers between the ages of 12 to 18. The camp aimed to bring youth together that normally would not interact with one another, and reduce anti-social behavior in the community and keep youth from committing any crimes or getting involved with gangs while out of school. (more...)
Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria - Nigeria, Africa
Rainbow Gate Foundation Nigeria, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Nigeria, was founded in 2009 to help youths and underserved individuals in Nigeria. One of Rainbow Gate Foundation’s projects is the New Life Education Program for Remand Home Children, which helps at-risk children. Project volunteers work with children known for anti-social behaviors to increase their knowledge about social life through a Guardian and Counseling initiative. Additionally, the New Life Education Project developed a skill acquisition program to train the children in the areas of catering, computer skills, snail rearing, aqua-culture, and poultry management. The children are counseled, trained, and empowered in order to transform their attitudes positively. (more...)
Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion - Polk County, Florida, United States
The mission of the Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion is to provide youth of Polk County, Florida a drug-free environment where they can learn life leadership skills and at the same time help their community. Cadets with Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion work with several local community leaders on projects such as feeding the hungry, packing care boxes for the troops, and helping with Habitat for Humanity. (more...)
Sindh Community Foundation - Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan
Sindh Community Foundation conducted a survey in the slum settings of Tando Muhammad Khan and opened a dialogue with community members about girls’ education and community needs. They developed a project designed to train the girls on basic and advanced computer skills, provide career counseling, awareness, and job skills training, establish a Girls Youth Resource Center, and build the girls' capacity on social activism and understanding of social issues ranging from confidence building, life skills, HIV/AIDS, RH problems, gender, human rights, social activism, and leadership. (more...)
Ardmore Initiative - Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States
The Downtown Dollars program was created to support "buying local” in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The Ardmore Initiative began by holding a focus group with business owners and financial experts to craft and design the program. The program’s goal was to provide Downtown Dollars at a discount of 50% of their face value to shoppers in the Ardmore community, who could then spend the Downtown Dollars at local Ardmore businesses. $15,000 Downtown Dollars were released in the community in May 2010, generating, in five months, total sales of $19,000+ at 47 local businesses. (more...)
Life Community Based Organization - Kariobangi, Nairobi, Kenya
In 2007, The Life Community Based Organization was formed, with the mission of serving the poor and marginalized communities in the Kariobangi and Korogocho slums through participatory engagements aimed at addressing their felt needs and aspirations for better health. The program had four components: HIV/AIDS prevention, Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Support, Community Pharmacy and Essential Drug Supply, and Comedy in Healthcare Initiative. (more...)
YMCA of Greater Cleveland - Cleveland, Ohio, United States
The YMCA of Greater Cleveland began their go!FIT initiative with a large scale community outreach in December 2009. The goal of this program was to provide adults in Cuyahoga County with the tools necessary to improve their overall health through exercise, weight loss, and increased healthy lifestyle habits. (more...)
Majaso Human Development (MAHUDE) - Bungoma, Kenya
Majaso Human Development (MAHUDE) is an NGO working in Kenya to provide the local villages with clean water. Since 70% of East African hospital visits are due to contaminated water, we mobilized the members of the community to work on solving the dirty water usage problems and reduced hospital visits as a result. Since open water sources typically are more susceptible to being contaminated, polluted, or depleted by evaporation, we determined that an important part of reducing water-borne illness was protecting the springs. (more...)
Gilda's Club South Florida - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Breast cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death among African American women, surpassed only by lung cancer. The incidence of being diagnosed with breast cancer is 10% lower among African American women than white women and yet the mortality rate for African American women is 37% higher. This disparity is attributed to later-stage detection and unequal receipt of high-quality medical treatment, according to the American Cancer Society. Gilda’s Club South Florida (GCSF) is a free cancer support community for women, men, children, and teens with all types of cancer and their families and friends, that seeks ways to address this healthcare disparity issue. (more...)
Campus Wellness Coalition - College Park, Maryland, United States
In January of 2008, the University of Maryland Campus Wellness Coalition formed to address the health and wellness of the College Park campus community. Student wellness affects academic success, but it seems that often wellness is seen as an individual concern, rather than a campus priority. The Wellness Coalition aimed to make health a priority for all, and through interactions with students, faculty, and staff on various levels we determined the main issues of concern – eating healthy, exercising, and stress management.(more...)
St. Francis Health Care Services - Kampala, Uganda, Africa
St. Francis Health Care Services, located in Njeru Town Council near the Source of the Nile in Uganda, is an HIV/AIDS non-government organization established in 1998. St. Francis Health Care Services recognized that many HIV positive children in the Buikwe District of Kampala were suffering from nutrition-related illnesses. So, they established a child rehabilitation centre; although many of them were able to recover in a month or two, they still faced the challenge of proper feeding back home. The mushroom project was initiated to help the children and their caretakers (grandmothers) develop skills for producing food at low cost with minimal labor. (more...)
Bread for the City - Washington, DC, United States
Launched in July 2009, our Glean for the City project organizes weekly volunteer excursions to local farm partners (Parker Farms, Crooked Run Orchards) during the July-November harvest season to gather surplus fresh produce (apples, corn, squash, etc.) from their fields that would otherwise go to waste. In 2009, this project reaped nearly 45,000 pounds of free fresh produce, and all collected produce is distributed between Bread for the City’s Northwest and Southeast Center food pantry locations, which feed approximately 9,000 low-income DC residents per month. (more...)
Community Enterprise Solutions - New York City, New York, United States
In the remote villages of developing countries, there is no access to solutions to basic economic, health, and environmental problems, and women are unable to support their families. Because of this lack of access, community members are suffering needlessly from pulmonary illnesses, gastrointestinal illnesses, visual problems, malnutrition, water scarcity, energy deficiencies, and many other similar preventable illnesses. The work of Community Enterprise Solutions within the MicroConsignment Model enables local entrepreneurs to provide low-income villagers with products and services that help improve their health, nutrition, and economic situations—and earn incomes for their own families while doing so. (more...)
BK Farmyard - Brooklyn, New York, United States
BK Farmyards is a decentralized urban farming network transforming idle land to farmland, connecting urban farmers with landholders, and building supportive communities around urban farms. We aim to reconnect farmers and consumers as co-producers of the foodscape. Based in Brooklyn, we partner with homeowners, schools, organizations, developers, restaurants, farms, consumers, Department of Health, and Department of Youth & Community Development. (more...)