All People Making a Difference
Difference MakerSponsor Circle opens hearts and homes to Afghan refugeesAfghan refugees are finding their resilience bolstered by one-on-one relationships that nurture transitions to life in the U.S.聽after upheaval.
Preserved by students, WWII internment camp becomes national parkFor decades, Colorado students聽have preserved a聽World War II Japanese American internment camp to honor those relocated there. Now it will be a聽national park.
How to help Ukraine? A sampling of charitable efforts.Dozens of charitable groups are feeding, sheltering, and assisting those in Ukraine and the more than 3 million people who have fled the war. Here are a few of those organizations helping out.聽
Difference MakerA secret town鈥檚 renewal, from radioactive cleanup to recycling jobsNorthern Estonia once fueled the USSR鈥檚 nuclear arsenal. T玫nis Kaasik cleaned up the radioactive waste and created jobs for the Russians left behind.
At 82, she coded an app. She just wanted a game she could win.Technology serves as a gateway to new skills and social opportunities. Wakamiya Masako is making sure fellow seniors aren鈥檛 left behind.聽
Growing Griots: Modern-day storytelling shapes young people鈥檚 identitiesGrowing Griots: Modern-day storytelling builds confidence and bridges cultural divides.
Difference MakerRhythmic gymnastics: One man鈥檚 fight for equalityPeterson Ceus is creating space for men in rhythmic gymnastics, hoping to change ideas about what the sport should look like.
鈥榊ou are not alone鈥�: Love For Our Elders offers embrace via lettersLove For Our Elders volunteers write and send letters to older people around the globe to help remedy their isolation.
Birding on Capitol Hill: An Audubon expert gathers a bipartisan flockBird-watching tours of Capitol Hill led by an Audubon Society 鈥渂ird lobbyist鈥� draw legislators and staff into 鈥渞are鈥� bipartisan gatherings.
What a string ensemble can do: Harmonize community, calm babyWhether composing lullabies with new mothers or performing symphonic stories of social justice, Palaver Strings aims to unify community.
Rise in animal welfare laws? Thank Judie Mancuso.Animal rights laws are the foundation for changing how we think about pets and wildlife. This lobbyist鈥檚 work is being replicated nationwide.
With the blink of an eye, anyone can play musicIf music is the language of the soul, shouldn鈥檛 everyone be able to try their hand at it? EyeHarp helps people of all abilities play from the heart.
Difference MakerTo clean up East Baltimore, this mentor shores up buildings 鈥� and youthsTo clean up East Baltimore, COR Health Institute develops community structure 鈥� among youth and the very buildings and streets they inhabit.
On wildfire patrol: Volunteers gauge success by blazes that don鈥檛 startThe wildfires that don鈥檛 start are a gauge of success for this corps of volunteers who educate hikers and bikers while keeping an eye out for smoke.
Difference MakerBoxing and talking: How a 1988 Olympian gives backFacing adversity in a high-poverty, high-crime neighborhood, students channel the impulse to fight into the discipline of boxing, gaining life skills.
Riding with the wildlife rescuers: No creature too big, small, or wildWhen rescue facilities closed in Southern Arizona, Lisa Bates created her own wildlife animal hospital. Her Tucson Wildlife Center cares for 5,000 animals each year.
Difference MakerThis East St. Louis grocer tends an oasis of uplift in a food desertAn East St. Louis corner store is a lifeline for residents who have to travel far to a supermarket for food. It鈥檚 also a hive of social connection.
Difference MakerMariachi singer turns loss into love for arts 鈥� and communityMariachi singer Veronica Robles channeled the loss of her daughter into the creation of a cultural center that fortifies Boston鈥檚 immigrant community.
Difference Maker脡l茅onore Laloux helps France see disability differently脡l茅onore Laloux 鈥� the first elected official with Down syndrome in France 鈥� is proving that her unique perspective is an asset to her town.
Difference MakerWhen prison doors swing open, these mentors open their armsSociety often treats formerly incarcerated people as broken. At the Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, they find healing together.